#we just rehashing the same old headcanons over and over again

[youkaiyume]

Per the Sparkbonding ask you just answered, there is similar Ganon in the demonverse where Sesshomaru and Kagome reside with Mating. I usually use personal fanon where the demon Marks his/her human Mate and their lifespan matches the demon. Sometimes also including family or people the human considers family in the lifespan lengthening.

yup. where do you think I got that personal headcanon lol

[pitynostars]

what are the main reasons the chibnall era doesn’t work for you? (not a hater btw, just curious)

Hi anon 🥰 to be honest, I’m still trying to pinpoint it all myself ! While I was thinking about this and writing it out I’ve realised it mainly boils down to:

I think a lot of the writing is boring and inconsistent, from characters to big arcs to individual episodes.

Too many important character/relationship moments happening offscreen, or just told to us rather than shown to us.

So much wasted potential (I think this is the worst part for me because if it was just Bad I wouldn’t be so frustrated by it you know?) I feel like I’ve had more fun in the fandom reading people’s speculations and headcanons all era than watching the actual show itself

Sort of in line with that, rehashing of old ideas (+ not doing anything new/interesting with them).

I don’t know what it is specifically, whether it’s the writing, acting, or directing, editing, something else, but the whole era has such a patronising vibe to me? All the characters act like stereotypical primary school teachers at their most annoying and it drives me INSANE

So to elaborate:

The writing style of the era seems to be “drop something interesting and then forget about it until maybe we remember it and decide to do something with it” but the something they do with it is often boring as shit and I’m left after every episode/season with an overwhelming “... ok so what was the point of any of that?” feeling. From big things like the whole Timeless Child arc, to Ryan vlogging, to Yaz’s MH/queerness, Graham’s cancer, Dan’s “take the soup, will you?” moment, The Eternals in CYHM?, Ruth/Martin!Doctor etc. etc. 

I KNOW Chibnall can write nuanced plots, characters and relationships, but in his era of DW it just doesn’t work for me. Take the Timeless Child arc, beat for beat it’s just like name drop the Timeless Child in 11x02, monologue exposit about it in 12x10, don’t really deal with the fallout/emotional development the Doctor gets from it at all apart from one scene out of the blue in NY. Repeat through Flux (the watch is brought in to remind her it exists and she makes the exact same choice she does in TTC to Choose to be the Doctor, independent of whatever might have happened in her past). Her changing her mind about how she feels about it all in prison? Happens off screen. Her chasing after Karvanista so obsessively? Off screen. We’re just told afterward that she’s back to caring about it. 

Same with thasmin, there’s a couple of random comments in Arachnids, Villa etc until Flux, but then it skips over actually letting Yaz and the Doctor interact so it’s like ok like. Do they have a laugh together? Does the Doctor care for Yaz when she's scared/upset (seeing 13's interactions with Graham I'd say No. Also the only time I can remember we've seen Yaz upset and comforted is Spyfall and that's by Ryan). What’s in their dynamic that I’m supposed to be invested in, all we get from them 99% of the time is Yaz asking a question so the Doctor can exposit about it (which again ties back into my oh my god everyone feels like a patronising primary school teacher problem). Their dynamic in Flux is just the Doctor being a dick and Yaz taking it (with gooey eyes half the time lol). Then we get to second half of flux + the specials and honestly I don’t think one person pining for the other can be considered a whole relationship dynamic in itself (or again, if it can be, it’s… very boring lol).

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I feel like the characters are all pretty badly defined in general, but the characterisations we do get are boring or rehashes of previous characters. We know now Chibnall specifically wanted to bring on a woman to play the Doctor, but also wrote her as so passive (people point to episodes like Rosa and are like “well she couldn’t step in!! It would change history!!” okay who keeps writing her into these situations!! It’s okay to have those sorts of plots/resolutions as long as there’s some episodes where the Doctor has to make a choice and have a win), and when she’s NOT written super passive, she makes a crazy ass decision which doesn’t really add up at all with the rest of her character - e.g., taking the cyberium, blowing up the Master (and then letting Ko Sharmus do it), (ditto with the Sea Devils and Ji Hun). 

Which then goes with the fact she’s written with her morals all over the place (the spider in Arachnids, to being an absolute ARSE to Yaz in Flux to abandoning Dan in LotSD but she’s still got this damn high horse about using violence (except when its HER bombing people (: uwu) – I know this hypocrisy is present in other Doctor’s too but it’s exactly why I find Ten so annoying, like why repeat this for her !!!! At least with Ten we got Waters of Mars!!!!!!!!!! 12’s dying wish was for them as the Doctor to continue to be KIND but 13 falls immediately back into 10’s self centred arsehole persona of ESPECIALLY being an arsehole to your friends which I just hate watching. 

Another point I find frustrating about 13 is literally why cast a woman if you’re not going to do a gender identity arc. Like perfect opportunity, Yaz or Ryan or Graham could have been trans if you didn’t want to give the Doctor that arc specifically because they’re an alien yada yada but why do it. The only thing that’s done with it is have her be confused (even tho the Doctor’s been interacting with humans for literally centuries and knows how gender works for us), and make patronising “I’ve had an upgrade” “life’s so hard for women back then” jokes. I’m tearing my hair out.  For so long in the beginning of her era I was just screaming at the TV for the writing to let her do something ANYTHING that let her show an emotion other than like. Preppy/patronising highschool teacher. When she’s actually allowed to expression emotion, it’s usually just so many scenes that make her look stupid/silly (I’m thinking of the scene in Spyfall when she’s like “snap!! … is that not what we’re playing?” there’s a difference between making her funny and weird and alien and just making her into a clown), which works when balanced with darker/more serious/more calculating moments but we don’t really get to see a lot of that from her, and when we do it’s usually quite isolated from the rest of the characters, so doesn’t really feel like it’s got an actual impact.  

Of the (assumedly) complete character arcs we’ve got they’re both quite boring in my opinion. Obviously not every companion has to Become God and Fall For Their Hubris but like. “Guy decides he’d rather stay home actually” and “other guy decides he wants to stay with him too actually” is just sooo boring. Their arcs are literally just like they go along for the ride, get tired of it and go home. Revolutionary. As I said before, 13’s is just the realisation her past doesn’t define her (on LOOP) with a dash of Ten’s arrogance/hypocrisy thrown in (which like… he’s my least fave Doctor of the ones I’ve seen!!! I don’t want a rehash of his era!!! Even if it was written well!!!).

RE: Yaz, she was introduced like “can’t you give me something that’ll challenge me?” and to be honest I don’t think we’ve really seen her challenged yet. I feel like they’ve tried to do a rehash of Clara’s becoming the Doctor arc in Flux, but the whole reason Clara’s arc hit is because we saw 1. WHY it came about (losing Danny and everything else through s8), and 2. THE FALLOUT, of both HER going too far and the Doctor’s grief. With Yaz, they just brought it up and have done nothing with it. She got so little characterisation through s11/12 and then when she finally gets Something they do nothing with it AND it’s more about someone else and her feelings for them than it’s about HER. 

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I think the relationships in the show also suffer due to the messy/lack of characterisation. None of (either of) the main team have any tension or disagreement apart from Ryan & Graham’s will they won’t they grandparent/son dynamic and Yaz/13’s communication problems in Flux. I also just genuinely don’t think Thirteen cares much for any of her companions. Obviously most recently abandoning Dan in the past, but also take the example from Spyfall: the Doctor wasn’t worried about Yaz, Graham & Ryan when she was stuck in the past, and we know she hadn’t already hatched the plane save so. She thought they were dead? She assumed they’d found a way out? There was no thought of ‘oh my friends were on a crashing plane, I should get back and check they got out okay’, she goes straight back in to stopping the Master, and it comes across as it’s only when they bring up the plane by asking how she did it that she realises they actually managed to escape? If she doesn’t care why should the audience? They’re all just along for the ride and it’s so goddamn boring.

They had such a good opportunity with Yaz & 13 in the beginning – Yaz is introduced as a kind of bored police officer with something to prove, it would have been so interesting for them to grapple with a bit of a power struggle in the beginning as Yaz tries to assume the Authority position and the Doctor grapples with whether she wants to be like “my ship my rules” vibe or to sit back and let Yaz go ham. Instead they just sort of. Are in scenes together I guess.  

Like, even Ryan & Graham’s relationship, which is one of my favourite parts of the era feels quite forced and formulaic, like they’ve sat down and said “right, in this episode we need a Ryan & Graham scene where he refuses to call him granddad, so later it’s satisfying when he does” rather than letting the characters naturally grow closer/develop. This sort of shorthand character/relationship building is so present through the era too, the whole speech Graham gives about Yaz being the best person he’s ever met: “You said to the Doc that you thought she was the best person you'd ever met. But you know what, Yaz? I think you are. You ain't got a time machine or a sonic... but you're never afraid and you're never beaten. I'm going to sound like a... like a proper old man, but you're doing your family proud, Yaz, you really are. In fact, you're doing the whole human race proud.” is really sweet and nice and I do enjoy their dynamic sometimes I just don’t understand where his POV of Yaz is from because the scripts up to this point haven’t really given Yaz the opportunity to be any of those things (unafraid, unbeaten etc). I’d say maybe in the year where the Doctor’s in prison/Flux but 1. that hasn’t happened yet when he gives that speech and 2. that was all off screen?  

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Which leads me on to my next point, which is, why DOES so much important/interesting character stuff happen off screen?? The Doctor’s time alone in prison and the fam’s reactions to it, Yaz & Dan’s 3 years in the past, Yaz growing/realising her feelings for the Doctor, all happen mainly off screen, the Doctor obsessively hunting down Karvanista at the beginning of Flux. I’ve seen people speculating that Yaz & Doctor had the conversation about the Master & the Timeless Child and all the Flux shenanigans sometimes between EotD and LotSD, and that was their MAIN tension all through last series but I wouldn’t even be SURPRISED if it happened off screen at this point. 

I’m still so frustrated there’s no timeline given for when this Dhawan!Master is at. We are left to assume he’s post Missy, but there’s no mention/interrogation of her arc whatsoever. Any development he had to get him back to his “”evil schemes”” is, again, left off screen. It just feels like such a disservice to Gomez and her Master and the arc she had with 12 to not even MENTION it. Just a mention from 13 of like “oh I thought they’d changed…” to Ryan/Yaz/Graham. ANYTHING. I thought the Master coming back was gonna be the trigger for 13 to finally snap because she’s finally got someone to bounce off of and then she gets him taken off by Nazis (I don’t think the point of like. Why that is so awful needs relabouring lol). 

Ruth/Martin!Doctor could have been so interesting to dive into (holding out for that spin off 🤞) but instead she gets forgotten until like Once Upon Time which mainly overwrites her with Thirteen and then she’s forgotten about again.

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It’s also really annoying in my opinion how the era does so much lipservice to being progressive, especially more so than before, when for 3 seasons the only queer characters were introduced and killed like 2 minutes apart, and Ryan and Yaz were constantly sidelined for Graham’s development, sometimes it even feeling like the Doctor was also playing second fiddle to him, and Grace was introduced only to be fridged (and then like. AGAIN in ITYA) for Graham's (and to a lesser extent Ryan's) development, which they don't even really do anything with except for a few Grief scenes. You'd think a guy his age who's just watched his wife die and who's had longterm health issues might look at his grandson wanting to hop off into danger and have more to say than "yeah guess I'll come along too".

A lot of times it feels like they only bring up things like race, sexuality, gender, disabilities etc as a Theme of the Week rather than being part of these characters/worlds (e.g., Yaz’s MH is only really present in CYHM, Ryan’s dyspraxia gets forgotten about all the time and is written super inconsistently, Rosa and DotP have Ryan and Yaz discussing racism but then in the Witchfinders it’s not a problem (because that’s The Sexism(™) episode). They have episodes like Orphan 55 and Praxeus with the same span they have FUCKING Kerblam!.

I’ve already talked about how disappointing I feel the era is at handling the Doctor being played by a woman, but it also bugs me RE Yaz being queer, is that we have no idea how that impacts literally anything about her or her character (I know it’s a last minute addition so maybe felt like they didn’t have time), we don’t know how she came to the realisation or how she feels about it, how she feels about Dan essentially outing her, whether the bullying/MH they touched on are affected by it. It’s just like ok Yaz is queer! Onto the next bulletpoint for the ep. There’s no depth given to it at all. They randomly drop Yaz is a muslim at one point but again we have no idea what her relationship with that is at ALL?

And obviously having representation for representation's sake can be fine, your whole personality isn’t your identity, but when it’s so often the case that it’s not addressed at all outside of establishing it, it feels so lazy, like they want the kudos for having a diverse cast without having to do any consistent legwork with it.

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Ultimately I think for me this whole era just feels like “oh this idea is cool, hope this pays off later” then being bored/irritated then being like “... was that it?”. It feels like it’s lacking a lot of heart, it all just feels so weak and dull and lifeless and misses every opportunity to do something interesting with the good ideas it DOES have ?? Or what they DO do is just rehashing old stuff, but not as well (Clara/Yaz WWTDD arc, 13’s 10-like traits) or completely ignoring what came before (the memory wipes after what 12 learned with Bill/Clara, Missy/the Master’s development). Even episodes I really liked like FoTJ just don’t work as well on rewatch because you know they’re not going anywhere interesting. 

Sorry if I’ve repeated myself anywhere, been scrapping my thoughts together when I had a couple minutes free but I tried to proof it best I could!

[hoxooster]

So what are your ships? Ever since you talked about aro/ace!Clover i've been really curios.

Well, I never thought that I'd be asked this question point-blank, but here we are.

Like I've said before, most of the ships I have are memes from the old days--the Golden Age--of this fandom. (Yes, that ask is still in my askbox and I still keep forgetting to answer it. I am so fuckin' bad at this. XD)

My main one, most obviously, is Wolfhox. But the reason why I ship them comes with a huge asterisk. I did not start as a Wolf x Hoxton stan, but actually a Dallas x Hoxton one. See, I first started playing PD:TH completely solo, 'cause I had just gone through the worst experience of my life because of another person, and I couldn't play L4D2 anymore without it causing me pain. Now, no matter which of the games I play, the Dallas bot is always super gay for me, and it didn't take me long to start maining Hoxton (I started as a Chains main). So, I shipped the two of them together until-- *Awkwardly does a drumroll on my desk.* I met Wolfee. Now, I was fucked up after the Bad Times, so I was weird for the first few months of our friendship. (This is putting it VERY mildly, but I don't feel comfortable with going into the particulars. References to this time is all you'll get from me.) But, that brass motherfucker just wasn't fazed and continually chose to hangout with me. So, over time, he got me to notice Wolf more and to really enjoy how he and Hoxton gel together. My best friend got me to ship those two idiots.

My best friend. Wolfee. Of all fuckin' people.

The secondary one is Ballas, Ballast, Dain, or Bain x Dallas. I was never really hardcore into this one all that much, hence why I don't call it MasterGuide or NaviMind or whatever the hell else people call it now. That's also because I haven't cared about the Lore since before Golden Grin came out. Pretty much all I know is that Shit Got Weird and that there's multiple endings (this isn't true, I DO know more than this, but I'm a sarcastic ass). I was asked to do a writing prompt some years ago that I never finished, then Tumbles deleted the ask randomly one day, so I haven't felt the need to touch it again. But the basic premise was very much smexy times. Dallas was taunting Bain by being lewd on the security cam footage, until Bain finally got Dallas to agree to meet him in-person. They then meet up at a motel and have blindfolded sex, 'cause this was back when the Crew didn't know what Bain looked like. Maybe I'll finish it, maybe I won't. I mean, I recently posted that short 'uh oh, Wolfy is mad that his boyfriend is in jail' fic that I wrote back in 2014, so...

And, of course, my one-sided, Jacket is infatuated with either an aromantic or asexual Clover ship. When Clover was first revealed, it was actually really popular to headcanon her as being asexual for awhile there. I don't remember why, but it was a Thing here for some time and it has stuck with me ever since. That being said, I lean more toward her being aromantic, 'cause I understand that a lot better, being aromantic myself, and her dialogue is very pointedly sexual and flirty. Like, it sounds like a joke that she's continually forcing, which I also understand 'cause I do the same thing. (It gets me in trouble a lot.) Anyway, for a rehash of my headcanon: Jacket in PD2 is a copycat of the in-universe videogame character of Jacket. He's delusional and tries to equate his world to that of HLM's, so he becomes infatuated with Clover and conflates her with The Girlfriend. He confesses to her in an unintentionally insulting way ('YoU re-mInd me of HOOK-er.') and he has to apologize and explain what he means. She tells him that she literally can't return his affections, and he accepts this and is totally fine with it. They never get together and their relationship stays as platonic coworkers, but he remains affectionate towards her and goes out of his way to defend her if they work on heists together. It's respectful and real--'cause even though he's delusional, he's still copying a character that was canonically respectful to a woman, so he wouldn't 'go off the script' from that, in my estimation.

So, those are all my serious ones.

✨NOW FOR STRAIGHT-UP MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEMES!✨

Dallas x Money - this is because of Bruce. I dunno if he's still on this site, 'cause he had a bad habit of deleting his Tumblrs and making new ones back in the day, so I lost track of him. Since I dunno where to find him to ask for permission, I'm just gonna put up the links to his original art posts, rather than repost them here: [X] and [X].

Chains x Coffee - this was from an AU idea that me an' a former friend of mine had, where Chains, after retiring from heisting, opened up a coffee store chain called "Reality Check". In the AU, his store becomes popular enough that it actually serves as legit competitor to Starbucks, hence why it becomes a chain of stores. However, because of how that friendship soured and broke, I am no longer fond of this 'ship', but I still think about it from time to time.

The Dentist x The Diamond -

Jimmy x Coke / Scarface x Yayo -

And, of course, other minor ones, like Bodhi and his love for the ocean, Bonnie x Alcohol, Sangres x Tequila x Hawaiian Shirts, Dragan x Exercising / Dragan x Meat Sandwich, et cetera et cetera. Y'all get the idea.

I would give a rundown on how I think that the Crew interact in-general, especially in regards to friendships and dislikes and so on, but this post is already waaaaaay too long.

But, yeah. Those're my ships. Cheers.

[pekorosu]

just a lil “if ash lived” headcanon that i need to unload somewhere bc i've been holding it in for a long time

- set within the manga ‘verse

- takes place when ash and eiji are in their early 30s... so around the mid 1990s?

- i don’t get the weird animanga trope where older = longer hair, so they’re gonna look the same... maybe with slightly shorter hair bc they get regular haircuts now 

- (note: i've always interpreted long-haired eiji as symbolic of the fact that he couldn't move on from ash’s death)

- ash and eiji will continue living in the states, idk if still in NYC or somewhere else. they’ll move around a lot though.

- ash will mostly remain underground as he had to fake his death after lao’s stab, but he does it in a "hiding in plain sight" kind of way. only a handful of people know he’s still alive.  

- ash spends most of his time on the computer, mostly coding, hacking, being a nerd, among other fun stuff.

- he also takes on “jobs” anonymously, and occasionally from max (who’s still into investigative journalism) when he needs info that can only be obtained through Dubious Means.

- i also like to think that ash's a bit of a hacker robin hood lol. but he isn’t doing it purely out of the goodness of his heart, as part of it is a subconscious need to atone for his “sins” and cleanse the gnawing and persistent feeling of shame that gets amplified when he’s around eiji.

- also whatever he’s up to these days would ofc still be Highly Dangerous and Illegal, but it keeps him busy and would sate the part of him that’s still hungry for adrenaline without him having to engage in stuff like active bloodshed or substance abuse. basically that’s how i imagine he’d try to cope with life the only way he knows.

- eiji continues to do photography and other part time gigs bc he does not like the idea of mooching off ash forever, and he slowly makes a name for himself.

- ash and eiji live together but they are NOT together in a romantic sense... not yet >:)

- therefore eiji will probably date other people in the meantime, which gets a little troublesome bc it's not like he can bring them home to where his secret Very Important Friend is secretly hiding.

- ash will maybe have one-night stands every now and then. or not. idk. this isn’t a very important detail.

- anyway there will be lots of clueless but mutual pining :)

- ash especially, is of the opinion that they should start living separately bc someone will eventually track him down, maybe someone who has a past or present grudge on him. combined with his current activities, it’s only a matter of time before eiji would unwittingly get dragged into his problems again.

- eiji is v adamantly against that plan bc he's sorta developed a debilitating sense of paranoia that ash might just get killed somewhere while he’s not looking. not that ash isn’t paranoid either, but his insecurities often tip the scale over to “eiji is safer away from me” than “with me”.

- basically they’re doing their whole “stay. no, leave. no, stay” dance all over again, but like, dragged out over MANY YEARS.

- you thought eiji’s letter would’ve cleared up any crossed wires? 

- HELL NO

- like yea, there was probably a beautiful honeymoon period of about a year or two after they reunited, before their respective trauma and issues started creeping in and fucking things up again.

- esp on ash’s end, i think he’d engage in a lot of self-sabotage. and eiji is only human, he has his own limits and baggage too.

- there will be a government conspiracy plotline but on a smaller scale compared to canon that i am unfortunately not knowledgeable enough to worldbuild on, but it will probably have something to do with cybercrime/cyberterrorism/stuff like that bc it needs to tie in with ash's hacking shenanigans.

- i've heard that sing ends up becoming some sorta political big shot in yasha? idk, i haven't read it myself, but since china’s rising status was mentioned in GoL i imagine the plot should relate to that somehow.

- therefore sing would also get to be in this story! 

- i guess this means yut-lung would come into the picture at some point as well, and it would be a good opportunity for a redemption arc but i haven’t given it much of a thought bc i’m indifferent to his character orz SORRY.

- look i can’t do plot, but i am basically envisioning a political thriller with a side of slow burn romance (wait, you mean like a rehash of canon?)

- i’m thinking max is the one who kicks off the story by bringing something fishy to ash, and they just end up uncovering more and more and MORE stuff as they keep going.

- so for like 80% of the story, ash and eiji will be separated bc ash will be busy spying or infiltrating something... and being at the center of Plot Things, while max and eiji will be more on the outside dealing with the journalist side of things. i’m fond of max-ash interactions but i’m also REALLY CURIOUS about max-eiji’s dynamic :D

- meanwhile sing will be like, half in and half out i imagine. he's versatile like that lol

- ...i did NOT mean that in a dirty way

- anyway, this will provide ash and eiji ample space to work out their issues separately, as i think living in close quarters for so many years has actually been aggravating them. ofc those issues don’t get 100% resolved by the end, but some time apart from each other to cool off and spend with other people should provide a bit of perspective.

- i want ash to make some NEW FRIENDS (!!!) that are on the same wavelength as him bc there’s only so much that he can tell eiji and i’m sure he gets rather lonely, so there will be OCs that he will meet in the middle of Plot Things.

- ash will get trapped at some point. preferably with sing so they can have a much needed heart-to-heart talk. they’ll have a lot to hash out, ranging from the events in BF, shorter’s and lao’s death, all the way to ash’s love life. 

- btw i like the idea of eiji and sing being close drinking buddies who confide in one another but ash is kinda, justalittle, not very happy about that LOL 

- i mean, it's not like eiji can confide in ash when ash is the topic at hand, ya get me? as for sing, he’s similar to ash in the sense that they live dangerous lives, so i imagine he just finds it nice to be able to hang out with someone mundane like eiji every now and then.

- not to say that ash and sing aren’t talking to each other at all, but i think they’d have a bit of a rift between them. sing probably does feel some resentment, both at ash for killing lao AND at himself bc he knows deep down that given a choice, he would’ve saved ash over his own brother. ash can sense that tortured vibe, so eiji’s like their middle man. AND THAT’S WHY THEY NEED A HEART-TO-HEART TALK

- (SIDE NOTE: i want akira to have a role in this too. i actually have a separate headcanon that happens prior to this story... kinda like an alternate GoL? 

akira goes to the states to visit eiji, but ash is also there, yeah? akira and ash start out sorta prickly with each other bc ash is all weird and standoffish and always cooped up in his room. she probably mistook him as a jobless model mooching off eiji at first since 1) eiji and ibe have never spoken about him back in japan (cuz he’s supposed to be dead), 2) why would eiji be living with some random hot guy? unless they met during one of his photography gigs? right??? 

and then she ends up witnessing them in the middle of a tiff, which makes her not like ash even more bc HOW DARE HE YELL AT POOR OKUMURA-SAN??? UNGRATEFUL JERK!!!

but over the course of her visit, she snoops around learns a bit about their history and gathers hints as to why their r’ship is kinda strained. also ash and akira somehow end up bonding (reluctantly) over their emotional insecurities and part on a friendly rivalry to win over eiji’s affections (which eiji is completely oblivious to. also akira may have been 100% serious but ash was just jokingly playing along with her (OR WAS HE???)). anyway long story short, ash teaches akira some cool tech/IT stuff along the way so that leads to her gaining an interest in the field. 

she won’t be able to do much in this story, but a minor role would be cool :)

 ^ a lighthearted gyoza-making scene amid all the angst)

- (SIDE NOTE #2: i ALSO want cain to feature in this, but bc canon provided very little bg info on him it’s hard for me to figure out where he’d fit. but i suppose that’s precisely why it would be great to include him, since i can just make up my own backstory! lol. for now, i think he should be connected to one of the new OCs to make him more central to the plot. or heck, he can be involved himself! ...yeah, i’m just salty about how cain was treated more like a convenient plot device compared to the other major side characters. we barely know anything about him even though he was one of ash’s most trusted allies. #caindeservedbetter2k20)

- anyway, back to the main story. ash (and his new "friends") barely escape where they’re held hostage. ash would be rusty with combat now as he’s spent the past few years doing only stealth work and being rather sedentary. 

- so there’ll be lotsa old man!ash jokes like them poking fun at him whenever he complains about his back hehe

- when they finally emerge outside they find themselves in the middle of nowhere! they then hijack a passing pickup truck and do a roadtrip back to civilisation. ROAD TRIP FTW

- at this point, quite some time has already passed and ash even has a fuzzy beard and mane and all. he’s standing at the back of the truck with a small smile on his face and the wind blowing in his hair, thinking GONNA GO BACK AND SEE EIJI, MISS HIM LOADS, HELL YEA 

- (bonus: this song and this scene is the catalyst for this entire headcanon btw)

(drew this about a year ago. i was trying to imitate the manga’s art style... and the ash i had in my mind was a little different. i’m too lazy to redraw, but he’s fuzzier now okay! MORE FUZZ! like an actual freakin LION!)

- meanwhile, eiji and max will get into some deep shit around this point? 

- eiji in the pic above was me imagining that the Bad Guys had tossed some damning evidence (eg. severed body part?) on the ground like “ash’s dead/ash’s in a lot of danger now so hand over all the info u have”

- and eiji and max are like. SHOOKETH

- this would be the 3rd time ash has “died” after all, and as they say... 3rd time's the charm...

- eiji almost gives in, but then max spits in their face like fuck no and then... yeah. they get beat up and taken away or something lol

- EDIT: hmm... what if the Bad Guy is someone IN the government, and he uses his power to get eiji and max arrested for aiding and abetting a wanted fugitive (ash). and then ash has to rescue them... JAILBREAK STYLE

- also it might be cool to introduce ash's mom somewhere in this story... maybe SHE'S the villain! mwahaha *drama intensifies*

- anyways they will get saved by ash and gang bc that’s just the way things go, BUT! only on the condition they already made it out at least 80% of the way bc GODDAMN IT👏LET👏EIJI👏BE👏BADASS👏FOR👏ONCE👏 

- (that is, after he overcomes the initial shock of ash possibly being dead again... again...... again............)

- there will ofc be moments of “oh my god, you’re okay” "i thought i lost you...!"

- something like this, because one can never have enough cheesy reunion scenes

- this will eventually lead to REVELATIONS (of the romantic kind, yes) 

- buuuut they will never say "i love you" directly to each other bc ash is too emotionally constipated and eiji is too japanese. it's okay, they will communicate it through heated stares 👀

- i would love for there to be a scene where they have to be separated again for Plot Reasons and ash sorta hesitantly goes all "...will you wait for me?" as a direct parallel to canon!eiji's "i'll be waiting" and it’s like,

- FINALLY! 

- FINALLY!!!!!!!!!! ash has finally allowed himself to ask for this, to let himself want it! 

- and eiji would be like OF COURSE I WILL YOU BIG DUMMY, ALWAYS AND FOREVER

- but i think it'd be hilarious if eiji pops up while ash's in the middle of the final showdown and ash's like WTF I TOLD YOU TO WAIT FOR ME and eiji's like I WAS WORRIED OKAY YOU WERE TAKING SO LONG

- idk how this is supposed to end...

- oh wait! since the plot is government-related, maybe Someone will be able to pull strings to wipe out ash’s criminal record (past and present) and give him a brand new 100% legal identity, as thanks for his efforts? or maybe ash (or sing) just does it himself somewhere along the way LOL. anyway, he’ll be able to start over with a fresh clean slate and finally work on recovery FOR REAL NOW. yes this is a happy ending AND it didn’t require him to go to japan /flips off canon

- ...i realise it’s never going to be that simple but W H A T E V E R

- (also they probably will visit japan in the future with that shiny new passport... gotta meet the in-laws and all y’know)

- who do i gotta pay to write this cheesy self-indulgent fic for me

[rogueshipagogo]

ppl have been asking me my opinions on space channel 5 vr... and i guess since i bought a vr headset off craigslist just so i could play it and speedrun it before work the day it came out... i should talk abt it now... i dont rly think i’ll be able to separate it into ‘good’ and ‘bad’ things i think i’m just going to do a rambly stream of consciousness bc i have a headache... but i DO have good things to say abt this game... so st.... sta stay t tune  d

right off the bat, the thing i appreciate most abt this game- i like that space channel 5 vr doesnt have cash grab vibes. i Do genuinely believe that they Wanted to make this game For the people who are still obsessed with it, and that they ultimately did what they set out to do when they intended to scale certain aspects of the series up conceptually to match the way the fandom perceives it nowadays. but like i’ve said before... i’m not going to Disagree with the very common conclusion that it Needed to be longer, or at Least more intricate plot-wise. one of my fun and fresh excuses for sc5vr being as short as it is is because you arent really supposed to be playing vr games for too long anyways, its really disorienting and kinda painful, but even that doesn’t account for why so much of the game that we got is a rehash of old settings, concepts, songs, and characters. [i dont even have a problem with reusing old songs, i just think the ones they chose ended up being misleading]

for example i think it makes sense that the first report is a remake of the first games first report on the surface, it’s meant to take you back to the way the first game felt and give you an idea of what it means that the games classic scenery can be rendered in actual high quality detail now [same with the recurrence of events like encountering the space pirates in the asteroid belt/the last battle against a villain being singing to it about what it’s done wrong], but i really thought, like, report 1 was going to end up being a simulated scenario for the benefit of lou and kee’s training... which i dont think ended up being the case??? i think they really did write ‘ok here you are in the first game’s setting again, fighting the old enemies again, because... :^) ok have fun playing report 2!’

and then whats report 2... you fight another old boss from the first game... but theres Still no clear villain or motivation for anything thats happening... and there wont be until like... basically the end of the game...

like, glitter is a really cute character, but its kind of underwhelming that shes just a random citizen who was kidnapped by an entity that we NEVER LEARN ANYTHING ABOUT... like part 1 was extremely notable for being about corporate greed and corruption, part 2 honestly wasnt that political in comparison but at least made you do a think wrt purge’s motivation and his methods, and this game just has a plot device that feels like it’ll do smth but then ends up not doing anything beyond what we already learned about it from the information on its character bio before the game was out. if it turns out that cell x is actually relevant again in a future entry in the franchise and they do have a more developed concept for what cell x Is in mind, i’ll do an entire backflip, but for now its just chalked up to being the result of More Space Hijinks that dont need to be explained

ESPECIALLY WITH ALL OF THE ALLUSIONS TO CELL X BEING AN ENTITY THAT FEEDS OFF OF DANCE ENERGY... it had me thinking that there would have to be some New Method of fighting it off that didn’t just lend it more power in the process, but nah apparently just tacking on the disclaimer ‘*this dance energy is not for glitter’ is enough to turn it from smth it can consume for power into big attacks you can use to kill it... like honestly it sounds like im asking for a lot from a game that has Never made too much sense, but considering that in part 2 they could add details like ‘oh didnt you know purge can open pocket dimensions? ulala is capable of manifesting tangible dance energy and the only other person who can do that is purge???’, its not like they havent come up with weird new shit for dance energy to do within the plot before. they just didnt do it in this game fsr

like did anyone else think that cell x/glitter was going to be the result of tossing purge out into deep space and him encountering the sc5 universe’s equivalent of an eldritch alien creature, smth more bestial than morolians?? even if purge wasnt part of it, when you say ‘uh oh, this guy Eats this society’s only source of energy!!!’ i expect the stakes to get HIGH, and i want the ramifications of it to be kinda STARTLING, because blank wanted money and purge wanted to ritualistically end the world but something this near to an ecological disaster that would force an entire paradigm shift hasn’t occurred yet in the series?? its totally new!!! there’s a lot they could do with this but OH DONT WORRY ABOUT IT EVERYONE ulala knows how to make dance energy kill cell x instead of feed it she’s got this we’re good no need to investigate more into all that

i can’t explain why the game is like this. and i dont expect grounding to address it in any meaningful way either. i’m sure they’re Aware of these complaints by now- the game reviewing community has Not been kind to sc5vr specifically due to all of these shortcomings [i didnt even touch on the issues with motion sensing and how many of the games mechanics were removed in favor of smth presumably easier to program yet much less satisfying, like Secret Moves just being mini quicktime events and Turning Your Ratings Into Stars just being replaced with the standard Three Strikes You’re Out method of scoring], but the pr team still seems very enthusiastic abt the game and is still promising dlc and potentially even more games in the series after this one- heres hoping that they’ll at least take these grievances to heart and consider making the experience not only more accessible [aka it will... go back to being a rhythm game with controller input.... and not... an exclusive vr experience...], but also as immersive and detailed as the old games, with less reused plot beats. i can let some of it off the hook in this game simply because i’m aware that it began its life as a tech demo that was only supposed to be that initial first report from the first game But Happening All Around You!, but i Really dont think they could get away with doing this little to expand upon the groundwork set by the first two games again. not with the way people remember part 2 being such a vast upgrade from part 1... the bar had been set so high that this just felt like a huge backslide into something even sillier and harder to take seriously than part 1 before we had any idea what kind of staying power the franchise would have as a hallmark of sega’s quirky antics. like... this game is what i think space channel 5 looks like to people who don’t understand the appeal of the first two games. and that scares me

but i guess for the most part, aside from wishing they had done more to revitalize the setting and the lore of the sc5 universe itself, im kind of glad it didnt do a lot to change the existing storylines the characters have kinda forged for themselves- here i was stressing out that they would pull out some plot development that would utterly and drastically change the way we talked abt the series for the rest of time, but so little happened and so little was added to the bank of sc5 lore that we can kind of all just carry on as usual and keep having the same headcanons we always had.

BUT!!! there ARE a lot of cute little details here and there that make the experience feel wholesome and like i said not an utter cashgrab- like so many of the character profiles referencing previous games [all of the references to npcs in this game being relatives of the npcs of the last games made me lose it] and how often ulala changes her expressions up and looks right at you and talks to you. the new music they wrote for the game also all slaps and everyones redesigns [if they got a redesign... rip pudding] are stunning

one of the most important things they did in this game was give a nice sort of Update to every character.... for example explaining that ulala isn’t a rookie reporter any more like she was in the first 2 games, that she’s moved up to being in charge of training new channel 5 reporters, and that while pudding is still somewhat stuck on her rivalry with ulala her career isn’t stagnant either, she was just cast in a romcom series as the lead... which is really nice considering how in the past she was portrayed as somewhat of a loser with almost no remaining fans left from her idol years

and you knew i was going to bring up jaguar at some point HES ALL OVER THIS GAME AND IT LITERALLY MADE ME FEEL LIKE MY LIFE WAS WORTH POWERING THROUGH THESE LAST FEW YEARS AND ALSO LIKE IM A GENIUS FOR SPENDING SO LONG POSTING EVERY SINGLE DAY ‘NO REALLY, HE’S THE SECONDARY PROTAGONIST OF THE STORY, ITS ABOUT CHANNEL 5 AS A COMPANY AND THEIR IMPACT ON EVERYONE WHO HAS EVER ENCOUNTERED THEM AND THAT INCLUDES JAGUAR AS WELL AS ULALA HES INTEGRAL TO THE PLOT BC SHE WOULDNT BE ALIVE IF IT WEREN’T FOR HIM’ i feel like it’s really incredible how in this game he has genuinely nice energy and doesnt withhold praise from ulala just to be helpful in a mysterious way later and he like HAS FRIENDS now. like consider how he went from disgraced former ch5 employee who got mad every time he saw them, to kidnapped robot henchman kinda humbled by the fact that now the turns tabled and ulala had to rescue Him, and now 3 years later his bio is all about how he has a new tv show thats super popular and he has a new entourage of ladies who he considers his '’’’’’comrades’’’’’’’ within the station he founded??? AND AFTER 20 YEARS THEY WERE FINALLY ABLE TO GIVE HIS MODEL JUICY ASS CHEEKS??????????????? NO MORE PANCAKE BOOTY???? THE BOY HAD A GLOWUP AND NO I WONT STOP TALKING ABOUT IT

WHEN I SAY MEOW MATCH THE POSE MOTHERFUCKERS THIS BLONDE BASTARD GETS TO BE IN CHARGE OF THE HUNDRED STAGE BATTLE NOW TOO THIS IS THE YEAR OF THE SPACE PIRATES BAYBEE

[one-thousand-splendid-stars]

How would Johnlockers react if Sherlock and John were forced to say “I love you” instead?

Not to rehash an old argument, but I’ve wanted to write an analysis like this for a long time, but never did cause I didn’t wanna start drama. But the recent TFP anniversary got me thinking about it again, and I think even though it’s been a few years, it still needs to be said. Because gifs of the ily scene, coffin smashing, and TFP montage still pass my dash on occasion. And there’s always, always some overconfident shippers in the notes talking about how the “i love you," was undeniably genuine, and that if it had happened between Sherlock and John, then we would’ve declared our ship canon too, so we should stop being “salty” that he said it to Molly instead. 

I know we’ve all said we’d absolutely hate for that scene to have been with John. But seeing those comments over and over often made me genuinely wonder what I would’ve thought if that had happened. What we would’ve thought as a fandom, given how much we tend to read into everything. So out of curiosity, I really, truly did my best to imagine that scene happening the exact same way, but with John. 

And here’s how I think I would’ve reacted to the ily, if John was in Molly’s place.

First, John’s confession.

If John said he couldn’t say I love you to Sherlock because “it’s always been true,” then yes, that would be significant to us johnlockers. As unfortunate as the circumstances are, it would still be a solid, irrefutable confirmation not only of John’s love for Sherlock, but of his bisexuality. So yes, that would’ve been pretty awesome to have.

But I think if Sherlock had just heard for the first time that John truly loved him, and his only reaction was “ok say it anyway,” I’d be like whaaa? I would’ve expected to see Sherlock’s world visibly shaken in that moment. So his somewhat dull reaction right there would’ve made my heart sink just a little. It didn’t matter to him that John loved him. (Though of course, that reaction was understandable with Molly since he already knew she had feelings for him). 

Next comes Sherlock’s first attempt at saying it. 

Yeah, that really pathetic one. If I saw Sherlock say “I love you” like that to John, I instantly would’ve doubted everything I thought was between them. Hearing him say it like that, as though cringing internally and wishing he’d rather be anywhere else, would’ve killed me inside. That certainly doesn’t look like someone who’s going to suddenly realize the words are true two seconds later. That jump from utter disgust/confusion to “omg wait, I actually meant it” makes zero sense. 

Next, the second ILY

The clock is ticking down, and Sherlock has to say it like he means it or else his friend is going to get blown up. So he repeats it more convincingly to get a response.

That’s what I thought when watching the scene for the first time. And it’s still what I’d think if it was John. Even if I really, really wanted it to be true, that doesn’t make it so. Though, it’s possible to headcanon that the second ILY was genuine, or to make it fanon. But as far as arguing for actual canon, pretty much everything that comes afterwards negates that possibility. 

They hang up the phone

If Sherlock’s “I love you” was genuine, then right here I’d expect him to take a private moment to evaluate what the fuck just happened - a deeply private, intensely emotional moment. He just learned that John loves him back. I’d expect his life [with John] to “flash before his eyes.” That’s a HUGE moment.

But that’s not what happened. In the episode, Sherlock snaps out of the act he put on and very quickly bounces back to reality. His only emotion is relief that he saved Molly’s life. It’s strikingly similar to his reaction to saving the child in TGG: Meaning the countdown was intense, but the second it’s over, it’s over. The “moment” is over. If that had been his reaction to saying “I love you” to John, I honestly would’ve been crushed. 

At this point, I’d be feeling pretty let down. I’d be wondering, “Is that it? Was that the johnlock we were all hoping and waiting for?” But I’d think, hope, that there’s probably more to come.

Next comes the reveal that there were no bombs. And Sherlock smashes the coffin. 

This scene would honestly baffle me. I’d think maybe he’s angry with himself for wasting so much time. Maybe he’s angry with John choosing Mary. But then again - why feel those things NOW as opposed to immediately after the phone call, immediately after learning that their love is mutual. Why is he only angry now after learning there were no bombs? Why did that trigger a reaction in him, but the actual phone call didn’t?

If the love is mutual, there’s no reason to be that furious. Because even if John was hurt in that moment, Sherlock still knows they can talk afterwards and be together very soon. So why smash the coffin? Why does saying “i love you” to him feel like torture or a vivisection? It wouldn’t make sense with a johnlock reading of the scene. 

Perhaps then, it was just his pent up frustration at being manipulated and toyed with by Eurus. Perhaps seeing the coffin made him angry because fake-threatening John’s life was a joke to her. Then sure, that would warrant a good coffin smashing - whether it’s John or Molly in question.

The coffin smashing makes sense with Molly, i.e. a non-shippy reading of the scene. His first reaction to the phone call was relief that he saved her, just like the child in TGG. But after learning there was no threat and he just lied to her in the worst way, “destroyed her” for absolutely NO reason? After everything Molly has done for him, and how much he’s grown to appreciate and treat her kinder? Damn right he should be pissed. 

Then the scene is brushed aside, the plot moves on, and we never see any follow through.

This would leave me furious. Why open a Pandora’s box by having your two leads say they love each other under the threat of death, and then never follow up on it? What terrible, terrible writing!

After that scene, I’d be left eagerly waiting for Sherlock to get home and explain that it was all Eurus’s doing, but he truly does love him. In fact, I’d be desperate for it. Because without that talk, there’s not much of a case for canon Johnlock. All we’d have so far is Sherlock barely caring that John loves him, struggling to say “i love you” properly before he dies, snapping right back into action afterwards, and then only showing emotion when he learns it was all a trick. So yeah, I’d be on the edge of my seat hoping that something more would come of that scene.

And if ALL we got in terms of follow through was a split second of John smiling in a happy ending montage. I’d. Be. Pissed. 

Especially if Moffat came out later and said John probably went out for a shag and they went back to normal. It only means the scene was written for shits and giggles like “ooh wouldn’t it be so hilarious to write a completely pointless and disposable scene where they were forced to say they love each other hehehe.” They never gave a second’s thought to what that would do to their relationship, or to John. It’s so insignificant they basically forgot about it, and felt it didn’t even deserve a resolution. Their relationship didn’t deserve a resolution. 

It would probably destroy any hope I had that Johnlock would become canon... if THAT was Sherlock’s reaction to John saying “it’s always been true.” If it was THAT hard for him to say it first, even after knowing John returns his feelings. If ALL he cared about after the phone call was that he saved John’s life, as if nothing else of significance just happened. If there was NO resolution except a split second showing that they’re at least still friends.  If not a SINGLE cast/crew quote confirmed that yes, Johnlock is now canon. 

If that’s how carelessly the writers treat a situation where Sherlock and John say “i love you,” then they care very little about this relationship. 

SO... in conclusion. I never, ever, ever would’ve wanted Sherlock and John’s first “I love you’s” to go like that. 

So to everyone who thinks Johnlockers are only salty that John wasn’t in Molly’s place during that scene: Please understand that Johnlockers would never declare our ship canon based on a scene like that. Our standards for “canon” are a bit higher. 

To everyone who doesn’t buy our pity for Molly: Know that it’s completely genuine. We’d hate for our fave to go through what she did, so we certainly don’t wish it on her, especially given her history with Sherlock.

TFP didn’t make any ship canon. And I’ll prove it by asking one simple question. Let’s turn the tables a bit:

To everyone who thinks TFP confirmed Sherl0lly: You claim that we’d declare Johnlock canon if the roles were reversed . . . but if we did, would you agree with us? Would YOU think Johnlock was canon if the ILY had happened between them instead? 

I don’t believe so. But I’d love to be proven wrong. 

[judgeanon]

The Way of Masters

(art by Phil Noto)

So with her likely upcoming appearances in Young Justice and maybe Gotham and maybe Birds of Prey, I’ve had Lady Shiva on my mind again. Well... more than usual. And I managed to keep it bottled up so far but now I feel those urges again so let’s at least try to channel them into some hopefully decent comic book analysis. Today’s subject: why I can never get really behind any story that involves Lady Shiva teaching anyone martial arts. 

Expect the usual copious amounts of NOT MUH under the jump:

The concept of Lady Shiva as a teacher comes from two main sources: Jim Starlin’s Death in the Family, which established her as a teacher for hire, and Chuck Dixon’s first Robin miniseries, where Tim Drake ran into her and asked her to train him. It was further solidified in Gulacy and Dixon’s Knightsend, where she helped Bruce get his kung fu mojo back after healing from his spine injury. And then there was Gail Simone’s Birds of Prey, where Shiva trained Dinah Lance to try and turn her into her successor. On top of all that, there’s New52 Shiva having trained Jason Todd, and while I have no idea if it’s been confirmed in canon, I’m like 90% sure she must’ve trained Damian at some point too. So it’s pretty much a solidly established fact that Shiva trains people.

And I personally find it to be a fundamental misunderstanding of her character.

(art by Brian Bolland)

Now, first of all, logistics-wise I have a problem with people repeatedly going to train with a known killer when guys like Richard Dragon are just, y’know, there. And while there’s a dozen of possible in-universe explanations that you could possibly wield (It’s faster! It’s harder! It allows you to learn her techniques should you ever have to fight her!), ultimately I think the best explanation is just that it’s more dramatic. To be trained by someone diametrically opposed to your ideology in stuff you want to know but have vowed not to use is an absolute no-brainer in terms of dramatic tension. And that’s exactly why I don’t like it from the start: because every. Single. Story. That involves Shiva training anyone always ends in the exact same place: with Shiva ordering her student to kill and her student refusing to. Or in Bruce’s case, just pretending he killed someone. 

This is nothing but a pointless exercise in character reaffirmation that does nobody any favors. Of course Batman/Robin/Black Canary is not going to kill anybody. Tempting them with it is just going through the motions. It was old hat in the 90s, let alone now. And yet, in one form or another, it just keeps happening. And it keeps happening because none of these stories are really concerned with Shiva herself. They are stories about Batman/Robin/Black Canary getting stronger, with Shiva used as a tool whose characterization is based on the most surface-level reading possible of her. The problem is that these stories also feed into each other, just like how Hush establishing Shiva as a member of the League of Shadows snowballed into this hellscape where she’s literally nothing but a member of the League of Shadows. Lack of interest in her actual character creates and perpetuates these misunderstandings until nothing else exists. But now the question becomes, well, what is her actual character? Good question.

So in Denny O’Neil’s Question run, which I am never going to shut up about until everyone who even thinks about writing Lady Shiva reads through at least twice, Shiva physically and metaphorically kills Vic Sage, then saves his life. I’ve talked about this before but the short of it is that not only does she kill his body, but by presenting him with something he can’t understand, she also kills his stoic, narrow-minded idea of a black and white world. But once she’s saved him, she doesn’t stick around to train him. Instead, she gives him the address of the aforementioned Richard Dragon, who takes him in as a pupil. And this is where things start getting a bit floaty.

(art by Denys Cowan)

Because there’s a difference between teaching someone and helping them learn it on their own. Zen Buddhists know this. The idea is not to build a path for someone, or to guide them through it. The path is unique to every person and they have to walk it by themselves. But that doesn’t mean you can’t at least point them towards it. Which is what Richard does. Sure, he teaches Vic how to fight, but way later in the run, Richard explains how unimportant that is:

And make no mistake: Shiva is very similar to Richard in this aspect. Her interest in Vic is not about whether he can become a mighty warrior, but in what motivates him. She’s interested in seeing how Vic develops, and her reasons are, in her own veiled way, pretty much the same as Richard’s:

Right before this page, Richard explained that Shiva thinks Vic is fueled by a lust for combat, while he argues that it’s curiosity that motivates him. And the book never gives a clear-cut answer, showing Vic as an intensely curious creature (in fact, it was his curiosity about Shiva’s motivation that helped tear down his old black-and-white worldview) but also as someone prone to seeking the simplicity of punching dudes in the fucking face when the world gets too complex. Which is part of the genius of this Question run: nobody is ever that simple.

Now, it’s possible to transfer this to the exampled provided below and say that Shiva is similarly interested in Robin/Batman/Black Canary’s development. But only if you don’t really go any deeper than the pure surface. Because the difference here is that at no point through the entire Question run does Shiva demand that Vic take a life. She doesn’t want to prove to him that her way is superior, or that killing people makes you better. She doesn’t want Vic to become like her. She’s just interested in seeing how, once violently stripped of all his preconceived notions and brought back as an almost clean slate, he evolves. And it’s an evolution Shiva has respect for.

And that’s why I can’t get behind any story about Shiva as a teacher. Because just like Richard, she’s not there to try and tempt people to walk her same path of slaughter, sneering smugly at their heroic ideals of the sacredness of life. That’s a dangerously bi-dimensional reading of her that leads to endless rehashes of tired plotlines that go to the same wretchedly familiar places we’ve been to a thousand times before. There’s no deeper insight into the character of Tim Drake or Bruce Wayne to be gained by putting them in a situation where they’re forced to kill but they don’t. There’s no evolution, no characterization, there’s nothing to be gained except for a physical upgrade. And while they may not lose much from just going through the motions over and over again, Shiva gets it so much worse because her character is eroded by these nothing plots.

(art by Ed Benes)

In BoP, Simone tried to give Shiva a new reason to actively seek an apprentice, which at least demonstrates more agency on her part than the usual row of Bat-people knocking at her door. Simone’s Shiva is preoccupied with the future and creating a legacy, but again, that’s an idea I just can’t get behind at all. To have a character as steeped into Zen Buddhism and Taoism as Lady Shiva worry about life after death feels like a betrayal, and wanting to turn Dinah into a new version of herself clashes with everything explained above. And Starlin, Dixon, Gulacy, Loeb, Gabrych and Tynion IV don’t even try. It’s enough to make one wonder, is there any writer who actually paid attention when reading Question?

(art by Damion Scott)

Look, call this a reach, but I think there’s a pretty good reason why Lady Shiva’s first appearance in Kelley Puckett’s Batgirl has her wearing a purple coat that’s basically an update of her design in the very first issue of Question. And considering Puckett actually collaborated with O’Neil on the tail end of that run, it’s not even that far of a reach. More importantly, however, Shiva treats Cassandra pretty much the exact same way as she treats Vic: she tears her apart and then leaves her alone for a year so she can rebuild herself. That’s not to say it’s a 100% perfect callback. She does help Cass get her body-reading skills back, and sadly, some of Shiva’s kill-crazy personality has seeped in, making her give speeches about how Cassandra is a waste because she doesn’t kill and how if they are to fight they must fight to the death and whatnot. Which makes sense for Cassandra’s development since rejecting such notions is a big part of her character, although that doesn’t make it any less tired.

But ultimately, the reason why I bring up Puckett’s Shiva is because he’s pretty much the only one to actually take those aspects of O’Neil’s Shiva and bring them back into the light. In a perfect world, the whole “you must kill” thing wouldn’t exist and Shiva would just be satisfied with seeing Cassandra develop on her own. And as we move further into pure headcanon territory, I think O’Neil’s Shiva would be downright fascinated by the idea of someone becoming stronger than her in their own terms rather than just by trying to be like her in every way. Sadly, Puckett’s Shiva doesn’t stick the landing, since the respect she shows for Vic’s personal growth is nowhere to be seen here. And once Gabrych takes over, we’re right back into caricature mode, where we’ve stayed for over a decade save for that one Blackest Night Question special. Which was co-written by, big surprise here, Denny O’Neil.

I understand why writers go for it. It’s simple, it’s dramatic, it’s familiar, and it gives their characters something to brag about. “Trained by the greatest martial artists in the DCU, including Lady Shiva” is used to describe even people like Cassandra who never actually trained under her. But I think it’s an error. And I find the alternative not just more gripping and compelling but also ripe with possibilities for both characters in the equation. It forces the person writing it to sit down and think what could Shiva find interesting in each character, and how they could be changed by her presence, framing it all as a two-sided journey of self discovery rather than a melodramatic ideological struggle of which we all know the ending. All you have to do is stop treating one of the most interesting characters in modern DC as a tool to make others get better at punching.

[troublekilleda]

what is something that he rarely / never tells anyone about himself??

{  @ichorvcins }

                   a  major  thing  duke  never  tells  anyone  is  anything  about  his  relationship  with  his  mother.  throughout  the  series  ,  he’s  mentioned  how  terrible  a  father  simon  was  to  him  yet  he’s  only  spoken  once  about  his  mother.  it  was  implied  early  on  she  wasn’t  there  ,  as  duke  talked  briefly  about  how  young  he  was  when  he  was  living  on  the  streets. it  wasn’t  until  s5  ep  8  where  mara  ,  a  trained  manipulator  and  duke’s  abuser  ,  managed  to  get  him  to  talk  about  it.  she  exchanged  his  emotional  backstory  with  where  nathan  was  and  how  to  save  him.  she  wanted  this  information  ,  because  he  never  gave  it  to  her  while  she  was  audrey.  they  shared  the  same  memories  and  thoughts  ,  and  he  never  told  audrey  about  his  mom.  audrey  ,  who  he  tells  everything  to. mara  wanted  this  to  hold  it  over  his  head  ,  to  use  it  to  manipulate  and  hurt  him  later  on.  when  he  addressed  his  concerns  to  audrey ,   she  further  insisted  he  open  up  to  mara  ,  again  a  known  manipulator  and  abuser  ,  to  save  nathan  without  thinking  of  other  options.  when  questioned  by  mara  ,  under  the  influence  of  a  ton  of  alcohol  (  it’s  my  headcanon  that  duke  isn’t  much  of  a  drinker  since  both  his  parents  were  addicts  ,  and  using  this  in  the  context  of  the  scene  it  really  shows  how  in  his  late  thirties  ,  his  mother  is  still  under  his  skin  )  he  explains  will  much  understandable  hesitance.  

his  words  are  “when  my  dad  died  ,  the  state  tried  to  declare  me  an  orphan.  and  just  before  the  paperwork  came  through  ,  my  dear  ,  sweet  mom  showed  up  to  reunite  the  family.  i  was  just  a  stupid  kid  ,  eight  years  old.  i  actually  believed  things  would  be  different.  but  it  wasn’t.  even  at  that  age  ,  it  didn’t  take  me  long  to  realize  i  was  just  my  mom’s  next  meal  ticket. she  turned  my  dad’s  place  into  a  flophouse.  wasn’t  long  before  protective  services  shut  that  down.  she  didn’t  come  around  very  much  after  that.  by  the  time  i  got  to  high  school  ,  only  time  we  ever  saw  her  was  when  she  wanted  to  collect  the  welfare  checks. what  did  she  need  the  money  for  ?  certainly  wasn’t  to  help  pay  the  bills.  so  i  learned  to  do  things  on  my  own.” 

                   a  reminder  :  duke  is  eight  years  old  when  his  mother  returns  to  begin  and  use  him  again. he  thought  it  was  different  this  time  ,  implying  this  isn’t  the  first  time  she’s  dropped  back  into  simon and  duke’s  lives.  but  duke  stills  cared  about  her  ,  which  was  seen  when  he  was  talking  to  his  father’s  ghost  who  said  ,  not  quoting  “”i  was  a  bad  father  and  an  even  worse  husband”  to  which  duke  replied  with  “check  and check.” there is  still  love  for  his  mother  that  duke  holds  ,  love  that  he  hates  because  he  believes  she  doesn’t  deserve  such  treatment.  he  feels  stupid  for  still  caring  about  his  mother  after  she’s  done  nothing  to  care  for  him.  whenever  she  was  “”home””  she  addressed  him  by  his  first  name ,  simon  ,  a  name  they  both  despise  because  of  the  original  carrier  :  her  husband  and  his  father.  he’s  never  told  anyone  about  his  homelife  situation  ,  not  even  nathan.  for  him  ,  opening  up  like  that  admits  weakness  ,  a  trait  both  his  parents  refused  to  acknowledge.  his  mother’s  abandonment  and  continuous  betrayal  led  to  duke’s  fear  of  abandonment  by  women  ,  a  phobia  later  rehashed  by  mara  to  manipulate  and  harm  him. 

[southsidelover]

⭐️⭐️⭐️

stars for our headcanons meme + @cockrch

Trimming for length over here!

CHILDHOOD DEFENCE SQUAD -They met when they were three, or four, remembering how it was raining that day and Sweet Pea had brought him over to play. That their shoes had mud and Toni had been laughing at first, but they played Super Nintendo in front of the shit television within the living room of her first house. The one right on the same block as his, the one with the tall walls and her height eating up at the corners, marked in pencil denotations. They’d eat cereal out of bowls that they kept pouring too much milk, too much cereal into, in alternating amounts, until by the end of it, they were high on sugar and could barely play, three monsters that shrieked whenever thunder and lighting, bolted down too close. She asked him to be her best friend that day, and her wild-eyed boy agreed.At seven, she felt like a bad bitch; that was what her mother liked to call herself, and she had the kind of friends that made her feel all the tougher for it, and when life ran by playground rules, who was she to be knocked over? It was always Topaz and Murphy, paired ruffians with a hunger in their eyes that reflected back their feral nature, always playing together, rough housing as if it’d cover up the nature of home, of what was, and wasn’t there. Together, they were unbeatable, right? The terrible twos, together, even if they’d long outgrown their playdates and sandboxes, more attuned to learning how to climb fences and sneaking out at night to see if they could catch a movie at the Twilight drive in, as if they belonged. When they’re twelve, they started to see the cracks, the fucked up reality that they were living. Learning to roll jays from the older members of the Serpents, knowing themselves and promising that when they could, they’d join together. Smoking and coughing and looking like fools, the room spun and felt like heaven and he was there, her Icarus. He liked to quote books and make her feel less crazy when she spoke about photography. He let her cry on him when her parents were arrested, watched her self-destruct, throughout the trial. Kept her in bounds, in safer places, while she tried to tear down the world the way it was being torn down inside of her.They were fourteen when they finally joined, though his was bloody, and hers was… well. It was more, but the same that he’d ever seen of her, the same her that jumped into the river in the summer, same amount of clothes, but for some reason, she could tell. He saw her different, an embarrassment clinging to that fact that she couldn’t shake even if she wanted. He handed her a jacket, and she punched him in the face - and when he earned his other brass-fisted beating, she was there at the end, waiting, ready.                                Just another step in their story of growing up.GRADUATION -The statistics were piled up against them; a sign that they weren’t meant for greatness, knowing that they should have listened to their own weakness, and realized that the greater world out there wasn’t meant for hooligans like them. But still they reached with faltering hands, feeling herself halfway slip, her breathing unsteady as she felt her own breath radiate within her lungs, nervous, sweaty palms slipping against his own. Because today, they’d graduate. And after this, they’d have to face their own realities, for what was waiting out there for them. Rehashing the decisions that they’d made midway through the year, setting up their next September well in advance as her head to look at him, her name being called out. A stupid smile blooming on her face before she could fight it, squeezing a little tighter as she stood and moved up.Diploma accepted, and her hat tossed, even if the stupid thing had cost her $25. And that night they sat in his car, still in their graduation gowns, smoking cigarettes on the roof of it as they parked by the river bank. Close to the encampment, but far enough for the illusion of privacy, the excitement fading, the question mark of their future left to grow between them, a yawning gulf of the things that she hadn’t yet asked of him. Already knowing her trajectory, with NYU waiting, and hours between them to stretch, looking his way, tongue darting between the dry, cracked surface of her lips. A puff of her daydream streaming from them as she kissed him slow, forehead left to press against his own.“Come with me.” because he hadn’t asked, his pride peaking through with a viciousness. But she didn’t want to be the one, only now realizing that the spark in this darkness between them didn’t have to end. Wanting him for longer than their last drag, inhaling sharply. “… we’ll come back when I’m done. But I don’t want to do this without you. Please, John, I– Just. I want to do this. But what the fuck is it for if you’re not with me too? Come with me.” there was no plan, no rationalizing this, just a want, a need, that burned within her guts, hoping and praying that he’d put that trust in her the way that she had in him.Teeth catching at her bottom lip when looking to him, with a crooked little smile, “We can make this our own.” because there was no more her without him, and that, she felt she could blame on him.COUNTING SCARS -“Where’s this one from?” it was late, and she was tired, but there was a fascination lit up within her. Fingers left to trace his ribs, careful, careful, she almost rarely tried to touch when she had a patient on the table. Especially one as unruly as Murphy, the kind of wild boy that she knew was born for the Sky Box. Some people just were, not that they could help themselves; there was something about living in the Ark that was bound to leave a few of them ready to pop, the conditions for an uprising there, but the dissidents like him taken out early. But now that they were here upon the ground, did any of that matter? She hadn’t expected to find him again, not after he’d been chased off from the camp but…Here he was, again, but not all in the same piece in which he’d left. And given Clarke’s own pressing matters at hand, Toni was as good as it got when it came to medical assistance, eyes narrowed as she leaned in to help, clean up all the shattered and broken pieces within him. Broken ribs. Cuts. Knicks. But what got her were the old scars, the kind that she hadn’t seen on him before. Not that she was looking before (she was, she was mad about the miss), curiosity getting the best of her when noticing them all, catching that scowl upon his lips and knowing… he just wasn’t that into opening up, a coolness sliding into place, another stitch, carefully threaded through.Maybe a pinch too, for good measure. “How about this. You tell me about each one of yours… I tell you about some of mine.” in Confinement, she’d been one of the lifers, the ones that people rarely messed with; nobody spoke freely of their crimes, and if it was a crime serious enough to have you locked in at the age of 12, more often than not, stories went on, buzzing. Tongue left tracing, her lips curving into a grin, vicious beneath her softened stare. “Show me yours, I’ll show you mine.” the pain, perhaps, and easier wave to ride then the compassion she knew he distrusted down here. Better to be real and in the language he spoke, that violence that seemingly permeated everything.

[beevean]

So what are your overall thoughts on Forces storywise? Positives and negatives? Where do you think the story ranks in the series?

Maybe it’ll be easier to just list positives and negatives (warning: long post):

Positives:

- Even by watching a low-quality stream of the Switch version, I can say the game looks gorgeous. It does suffer a bit from the Adventure 2 syndrome, where the art direction can bet too dull for you to appreciate the graphics, but some stages are breathtaking. Egg Gate in particular looks amazing.

- While the plot on its own doesn’t belong in this section, I appreciate the simple fact that they actually dared to break from the lighter and softer approach that’s been going on since 2010, and the fact that they remembered that the cast isn’t just made of Sonic, Tails, Eggman, Orbot and Cubot. The concept was awesome! The tone was perfect, serious but not depressing and too try-hard! There was some action! It’s a step in the right direction, and I hope people will criticize the plot for the right reasons and not because “lol sonic shouldn’t try to be edgy”.

- Shadow will be playable. Even if he’s at his core “Sonic with a OP Light Speed attack” this is very important.

- While at first I was annoyed at seeing old levels again, I’m actually happy with what they’ve done. They’re not just rehashes, they’re treated like actual dynamic environments. Green Hill is not just “hey remember this level”, it’s a place dear to Sonic that was ruined by Eggman. Chemical Plant is also ruined and repurposed as a space port, almost like a Sonic CD Bad Future. Only the Death Egg is pretty much the same, although I admit, the Classic level using the same gimmicks as the S3&K version was a nice touch that I forgave because it made sense in-universe.

- The dialogue! Aside from a couple of stupid lines, mostly by Sonic, there was no trace of childish, jarring humor, nobody was OOC or treated as simple comic reliefs, and the interactions between characters were genuine and believable. Some parts kinda reminded me of the Boom cartoon. “See, Infinite, now we het to know each other! So what’s your favorite color? Do you enjoy long, romantic walks on the beach? What’s the source of your powers? You can skip the first two questions if you like” “Maybe he’ll have more friends if he stopped talking about himself in the third person.” (maybe I just have a bad sense of humor idk :V)

- Eggman and Knuckles were perfect. We didn’t see them a lot, but their characterization was on point. Knuckles was just full of charisma and he radiated confidence, a far cry from the butt monkey he’s been since Sonic X. And Eggman was actually smart, with some clever ideas like having backup sources for the Phantom Ruby, rightfully chewing out Infinite for not killing Sonic, and… well, we didn’t see it, but I like the idea of him keeping Sonic alive in his cell just so he could see what happened to the world thanks to his absence (that’s perfect fanfic fuel). And Mike Pollock managed to sound badass in certain parts. “The sun will fall upon you. Boom! The end. Your pathetic lives… are over.”

- Speaking of Pollock, the voice acting was some of the best in the games this far. I can count on a single hand the times someone sounded fake or unconvincing (mostly Silver, sadly, and Sonic was a bit oscillating). I think I gushed about Liam O’ Brien enough, he clearly had so much fun with Infinite. I can’t wait to hear the Japanese version

- And finally I love Infinite way more than I should. His design, his voice (especially his voice

- I like that thing Infinite did in Capital City. You know, when he mind raped everyone in the city by conjuring those abominations of nature. That was a clever use of his powers.

- The last shot of the game, with the Resistance hideout shining under the sun’s light and a single flower at the center, with the instrumental version of the credits’ song in the background, is honestly moving. Even after the huge disappointment that was the ending, this part made me feel satisfied and like I accomplished something (and I didn’t even play myself). It reminds me of Wiosna from Katawa Shoujo, and if you played it you know how it feels to hear that music after finishing a route.

Neutral:

- The scrapping of lives. I’ve seen people complaining that it makes the game too easy, but

1) there’s still some punishment if you lose a life, just like in Unleashed the timer doesn’t reset and of course you lose all your Rings, so if you die you can kiss that S rank goodbye;

2) lives have been pointless since the introduction of save files. Let’s be honest, when was the last time you got a game over in a game that saved your progress? And what was the punishment for a game over? At worst you just have to restart the level you died in.

So while I’m not particularly happy, I’m not disappointed either and I welcome the change.

- The music. I put it here because it’s kind of a mixed bag, there are tracks that I hate with a passion and tracks that I can’t get enough of (and I’ve only heard a tiny fraction of the whole OST). So overall I would say it’s average-to-good. 

I really wonder why they’re insisting of forcing Ohtani to compose whole soundtracks - the guy is seriously talented and I admire his work, but why can’t he be helped by someone else? I know Kenichi Tokoi and Naofumi Hataya also worked on the soundtrack, but afaik their roles are minimal.

- The Avatar himself. I’d enjoy the idea a lot more if 1) they talked, and 2) the characters stopped shilling them just a tiny bit, especially since everyone else was relegated to the background. Still, the concept of a muggle wanting to help the heroes is cool, as it goes against that sort of “elitism” in the Sonic series. And I just grew too attached to Gadget the Wolf :)

- The level design, the thing people trashed for months on end… it’s okay. Is it good as Generations’? Absolutely not. Is it bad? I don’t think so, because when I think “bad level design”, I think of Knuckles’ Chaotix and Sonic CD. 

Forces is inoffensive in this regard. On one hand, it’s not as linear as it looked like, there are multiple paths and some nice platforming sections. On the other, the 3D parts are few, short and in general not that engaging, and yes, Classic Sonic’s stages are supported by too much automation because the physics engine can’t handle him apparently. In short, if you’re okay with shallow fun and you thought Colors was fine, then you’ll be okay with Forces. (and while we’re not supposed to judge the developers as people, considering the level designers were all newbies I’d say they did a good job)

Negatives:

- the fact that you can’t recollect your rings unless you’re playing as the hedgehog Avatar. That just flies against the very core of the Rings concept.

- The sheer lack of “show, don’t tell”. Most of this game is just told, in fact most part of the plot is told via walkie talkie convos. The majority of the cast is just there to comment and guide the characters during the levels, only Silver is shown actually doing something. The most offensive example is how Eggman conquering the world is “shown” by a simple text box (people are already speculating it’s another sign of troubled production). And we don’t even see that much of the conquered world, either, aside from City (no seriously that’s the name of the area).

- What happened to you, Tails? What happened to the boy who wanted to be more than Sonic’s sidekick? Why the mere sight of Chaos 0 sends you into a panic when you fought Chaos 4 before? Why thinking Sonic is dead makes you “lose it”, when the same thing happened twice already (or once, if you want to discard ‘06) and in both cases you were devastated but still managed to kick ass? Why are you just an exposition fairy? Who hates you that much in the writers’ team? :(

- THE. RUSHING. Oh my god I could rant for hours about how the game not only is too fast-paced, but outright misses chunkes. I already mentioned the text box part, but what about the part where Infinite sends Sonic and the Avatar into null space… and they get out of there in literally ten seconds? What about Fake!Chaos and Fake!Shadow being dispatched like that, without even the simples of boss fights? What about Silver, Shadow and Omega just appearing out of nowhere? What about the “fake sun” plan being thwarted simply by the Avatar after less than ten minutes? What about the relentless teasing of Infinite’s origins, all culminating in a big fat nothing (he didn’t even take off his mask for fuck sake)? What about Eggman just vanishing after the final boss? What about the fact that two thirds of the final boss are rehashes, and at this point I’m seriously insulted by seeing Egg Nega Wisp for the third time?

- Going hand-to-hand with the rushed plot, the wasted potential. Sonic gets tortured in isolation, so you’d expect some consequences to his characterization. Nope! Not even a reveal that he was just hiding his fear by acting tough. Why are Shadow, Chaos and Zavok on Eggman’s side? Lol, they were just illusions, the real Shadow is fine and the others just don’t appear. All the cool hints about a tragic past for Infinite in his own song? Nothing mentioned in-game. He’s an experiment, that’s it. The connection with Mania? Just an excuse to justify the presence of Classic Sonic, whose only purpose in the plot is to snap Tails out of his depression. This game is just begging, “Rewrite me, please!”, and if I could write decently I’d do it myself, I’m that disappointed.

- What’s the deal with Aqua Road? It’s the only gimmick level in the game and it looks like the unholy child of those horrible bingo tables in Bingo Highway and this part in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban for PC.

- Very minor, but if Eggman could see the fake sun, that means he would’ve been incinerated too. Considering how smart he was otherwise, that seems like a huge hole in his plan.

That’s everything I can think of. So, in conclusion, the game is generally good but overall mixed, and I dread the coming of November 7th because I can’t even imagine the kind of reception this game will get (and since it’ll come right after Super Mario Odyssey I don’t think it will sell well :\). 

I would personally play it if I had the chance because the game doesn’t look broken, boring or frustrating, and if I can manage to have fun with ShTH Forces will definitely be entertaining :V but it’s clear something went seriously wrong during the production and it feels like there are bits of the game missing, bits that could’ve elevated the quality from “good” to “excellent” - which is also why I hope Sonic Team doesn’t throw everything away but keeps the good parts and expands on them to create an even better game next time.

So if you’re planning on getting Forces, ask yourself what do you want to see in a Sonic game, because that’s the thing that makes the difference between “it’s not perfect but I can have fun with this” and “this game is absolute trash and Sonic doesn’t deserve this”.

[theinsanecrayonbox]

the great FOP review mega dump

ok so apparently the rest of s10 was aired at the end of June through July of this year. now granted, i do not get NickToons and used a friend’s DVR to record it, so there’s a margin for error, but i don’t recall any of these episodes ever getting recorded. i could be wrong, my memory sucks, BUT TVGuide is stupid and has a habit of putting the wrong names/numbers on things and if the guide doesn’t list the episode as new because half of it already aired, then it wouldn’t get recorded. so again, huge margin for error.

basically, i hadn’t posted these yet because i didn’t realize they’d aired; i was trying to avoid spoiling anything for people. Nick sucks at their programming schedule. these first viewing reviews are nearly a year old in some cases, since it was about a year ago that i was given links to watch some of these online after they’d aired in other countries. so yeah, probably a little dated, might not hold up, but here they are so we can be done with this.

Which is Wish:

 Chloe is a vegetarian??? Has this been said before??

 I feel like everything in the garage there was in the attic when Dad made Timmy clean that out before…not that that isn’t plausible, since that’d be one way to “clean” the attic lol. Just thought it was a neat commentary.

 But yes Chloe, unleash your organizational skills. Color coded labels are awesome! Cleaning sucks, but labels lol

 And yes, switching bodies always works so well doesn’t it Timmy…but heehee he called Chloe pretty XD though in fairness…doesn’t this mean Chloe is still eating the meat, because Tim’s in her body…or do they just *look* like one another? See, that’s the gray area…

 Ok I do not like all these moments of Dad seeing Cosmo and Wanda; they’re glossed over yes, but still. That should break Da Rules though, because they’ve been revealed (not to mention Crocker knows about them a million times over I know). it just seems like a cheap gag that they don’t need, and it’s annoying.

 “Chlimmy Turnermicheal” lol, I need to draw a fusion of my Opals now XD;;;

 Ok yes, they’ve body swapped, not glamoured, so Chloe *did* eat the meat after all, thank you for explaining that

 Seriously, it’s Cosmo loosing the wands (for the umpteenth time) that is going to cause the problems here -.-

 Yay more Chloe parents! They aren’t 1 or 2 offs! Though…why were they absent up until this point? Did they decide to take a sabbatical from work after the booby incident? That’d be nice

 OMR Danny, Vlad (wait nasty Dan? Hu oh well), and Dudley puppets. That is too cute for words!!

 And a Little Shop joke. Eeeeeeee!!! I know they’ve done man-eating plants before, but still!

 Chloe’s dad faints at failure? Hm, that could be useful.

 Tim admitting he’d miss Chloe is sweet, especially since it wasn’t with any mention of loosing his fairies

 Hahahaha dressing up as each other/themselves, that’s great. Cosmo’s head blowing up is getting old though.

 All in all I give this episode a huge A+. It is a cliché trope of a plot, but I feel it was executed really really well!! Nice balance of magical aspects with non-magical ones I thought, and gave development to both kids and their families.

Fairy Con:

 Ok first of all, I thought Fairy conventions were held every thousand years or so, and was actually just for the fairies. Granted, this “Fairy con” could be a different event OR they changed the event after Timmy’s bathroom one, since that could’ve been the first time a godchild was involved? Also, Timmy is you go “every year” that shows that this is at least 2 years after you got your fairies (because you had Cosmo Con, then assume one after that, then at minimum this one), so why are you still 10?????? (and don’t go saying “the time stopping wish in secret wish” because uhg)

 Crocker in the fridge….ok…but adding in Crocker to crash the Con…yeah this is a complete plot reusing of Cosmo Con, just updating it a bit

 Look Girlfriend the cat isn’t dead!!

 If you’ve had their hair samples for that long why haven’t you cloned them before?? But “off brand cloning machine” is sorta funny. Also, Kenny G? that a Spongebob shout out or not?

 Ok if it merged the cat DNA with the fairy why didn’t it merge the fairy DNA together too? Also, missed your mark to have a real “fairy cat” show up (though no Sparky so we don’t need it anymore I guess)

 Oh but Chloe’s enthusiasm over her first con, I am so happy at that ^^ I just had my first comic con, and I was spazzing like that too when I wasn’t freaking out over being ditched and lost.

 Ok that is yet ANOTHER unique birthday for Timmy. He’s up to what, 5 now since the series started? (Boys in the Band, Birthday Bashed, Birthday Battle, the one mentioned in Birthday Battle about the dinosaurs) the kid is at least 14 now, he has to be!

 I like all the backgrounders. Some look super squashed, but still neat.

 Tooth fairy returns! Yay! We had mentions of Cupid and Mother Nature before, so it’s nice to see the magical celebrities are still around and not forgotten.

 Ahhh! The return of the Crocker Pot which captures fairies!! Ok I am giving this writing team an A- on doing their lore homework because they are getting so many things right (though the Fairy Con being thrown off is still deducting points sorry)

 There was a blonde fairy that looked like Samantha in the background O.o

 “Chloe Carmichael, any normal person would give up right now. But you are NOT normal!” - omr Chloe I love you and your “never quit” song was good and humorous, I still love you

 Timmy how can you not know what Crocker is up to? He’s always up to the same exact thing. If he’s in Fairy World, I’m fairly sure there is a 1000% chance he’s there to capture fairies. Geeze.

 OMR Princess Morebucks was in the seats at Cosmo’s panel, I’m not joking.

 All in all, it wasn’t a giant impacting story, but it was a good one, even though it was a total reusing of a plot. I feel like the writing team did their homework pretty decently (for the most part). Plus, the magic of cons ^^

The Hungry Games:

 This is the B-Story to Fairy Con…interesting choice…more fangirl!Chloe…

 I love her “Katniss hair”, heck I just love seeing alternate hair on her

 Heh “Ketchup Everdream”, wow, ok, sure

 That might be the wrong movie, but it sounds interesting. What movie was that Cosmo?

 Aw Chloe lost…but yay call back to screaming in her closet

 Lol Crocker is once again, king of dystopian world. That is perfect. This is all perfect.  Maybe it’s because I liked the Hunger Games movie that I can thoroughly enjoy this parody, idk. But this is great. I am loving this episode.

 And cue the pointless Dad part…wait Mr Bickles?? Where have you been?? Why are you here???

 I like the blonde/pink haired backgrounder

 I really loved this episode! It was so nice how Timmy did this for Chloe and stuck with it even when it was bad for him, then she turns around and does something nice for him at the end. It let Chloe fly her freaky fangirl flag on so many levels. Like I said, I liked Hunger Games, so this was a great parody that was loads of fun. I really really enjoyed all of it.

 As a whole episode, these two really show us what a geeky girl Chloe is I think. She’s not just the over achieving little Ms Perfect she was at first, she’s got her weird hobbies and obsessions too. And the fact that she was so into Fair Bears AND dystopian doomy future really says a lot about her, and really speaks to me on many levels. It’s just solidified my love of Chloe even more.

Dimmsdale Daze:

 And we start off with jokes about barfing…well it is a roller coaster so I can let it slide…just don’t spiral out of control with them…

 Heehee “vines” joke, that’s great. Because it highlights their age AND that they are more naturalist

 Oooo Connie said “shyster”, that’s pretty borderline…

 Chaining yourself to the tree in town…wouldn’t that be the same tree that Tootie did the same thing to in the first live action movie? I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing…

 Did Chloe’s middle name change? O.o but lol to the “when you’re a parent you can make the decisions” because I head canon them meddling after Chloe’s divorce, but I know that line is the plot fodder, so I’ll just push the head canons away for now

 Lookit that adult!Chloe though!! I’m not that far off the mark with my design (plus you know, there are several older!Timmy designs and none are more true than the other, so my older!Chloe being short and bustier is still plausible). And hey lookit! Cameo of the adult!Timmy from Big Problem AND confirmation that if one of the godkids breaks Da Rules they both loose the fairies TOGETHER

 Neither Clark nor Connie really look too much like Chloe as children (ok Connie *does* but when you consider they made child Dad look exactly like Timmy before, it’s not quite enough)…just another tick in my adopted column, just saying…

 Why did that child in the bounce house have lipstick O.o

 Chloe’s earring is like, in the wrong place and it’s bothering me…

 “But I have the mind if a child” “It’s true, he’s been tested” – I…wow, just…yes?

 And of course Connie and Clark get assigned Cosmo and Wanda, I don’t know why I didn’t see that coming honestly ^^;;

 You know, even though this is sort of a rehash of Big Problem and The Switch Glitch I thoroughly enjoyed this one! Single mom!Chloe was great, it feeds my future headcanons. It proved that Tim and Chloe do share the negative effects of the fairies. And it was just a really good Chloe episode that Timmy was just a supporting character in. I really did like it. A+

 As a whole, I think both parts (this is meant to be paired with Spring Breakup) work nicely together. It’s a lot of Chloe and her family, so if you want some serious Carmichael development, do for this set most definitely.

Chip off the Old Crock:

 Ok before getting into this one, I just gotta state that since I read the description for it, I’ve been ITCHING to see this. How does Crocker have a nephew if he has no siblings? (*current thoughts: i’ve since this review come up with a plausible scenario*) What would this child be like? How could I use him for Superverse conveniently?? And then I saw screencaps and saw that he was a mini Crocker and got disappointed…

 But now we are to watch so let us see how that unfolds…

 What’s with that redheaded backgrounder?? He looks like a Lebowitz!! *files that away for layer usage*

 Still laughing that he’s named Kevin since that is a “name of evil” in our games and what not ever since my brother used it as a placeholder name for a badguy in a storyline; ever since then “Kevin” had been the badguys who are sorta pointless lol

 But still…”study abroad” um…you still could’ve used that since Crocker obviously has family in Canada; studying in California would then be considered “abroad” if he was Canadian. And that way, he wouldn’t have to be his literal nephew, but his 2nd cousin, but they just call each other uncle/nephew because it’s easier. That might sound confusing, but at least it makes more sense then just randomly implying he has siblings when he never has. I’m gonna headcanon this from now on, and no one can convince me otherwise. (*current thoughts: again, i’ve figured it out since writing this; i’ve left the original thoughts though to prove my though process from point A to point B*) Plus you miss out on Canada jokes this way…

 Awww Kevin, I’m starting to love you…that’s weird…

 Everyone pick a partner-no one pick Kevin, classic. However…redhead boy had 2 partners, why didn’t Crocker notice and stop that? There’s no reason why Chloe and Tim needed to pair up with him aside from plot relevance…

 Ah sweet Chloe, standing up for the misunderstood and outcast, trying to find the good in them and make others see it too. I love you sweetheart ^^ go make friends with Francis now please

 Why isn’t Dolores fawning over Kevin? You’d think she wouldn’t let her *grandson* out of her sight, considering the coddling we’ve seen her give Denzel at times. Unless she’s busy with her *other child* I guess…but in that case why isn’t she belittling Denzel for not being like *his sibling* and having kids and not living in her basement? I’d love to see Denzel look like a looser compared to this *sibling* he suddenly has, and it suits the family dynamic as we know it. Or perhaps the *sibling* is more of a looser, but Dolores still sings their praises because they did move out and have a kid, unlike Denzel who has a steady job and whatnot because *sibling* is a total bum. I mean, I get that it would only slow down the storyline, but it just feels out of character, plus the sudden introduction of a *sibling* just is wrong too…I should stop analyzing the Crocker family and just go back to the actual plot

 Kevin wants to be a dentist??? O.o are you related to Dr Bender??? That…would explain nothing honestly, idk why I went there

 “Sorry I’m too busy being a loner” haha that’s a good one

 Hey callback to Crocker wearing ladies clothes. Nice.

 “It’s a blueprint so shouldn’t it be blue?” hahaha that was funny

 Chloe how did you get to the top of the rock wall without a rope?? Did you boulder your way yup there?? And Tim! You should never rock climb without a belier(sp?) geeze, rock climbing 101 there dude

 And toilet joke…but I will let it slide because I am actually enjoying Kevin

 “Unleash your inner looser” omr yes best line

 Ah the build up to the betrayal “aw you guys actually like me” “well yeah you’re not evil” *does the evil thing* “we hate you now because you are evil after all”

 Unsuspecting Van is back whoot!

 Ninja!Chloe and Tim with a light saber; nice, but what a missed opportunity…also Chloe has a ninja suit…she really is replacing Tootie isn’t she…

 And Kevin saves the day by wishing none of this ever happened…just like Chester did in Fairy Idol hm…

 But at the end of it, I’m actually very surprised how much I liked this despite all its flaws. It’s riddled with clichés and huge plot holes/continuity errors, but I genuinely liked Kevin (and whole heartedly look forward to writing him into Superverse…also would it be too weird if he was Kyler’s father? I think it’d be weird…). I think it’s a nice B-story to Cat and Mouse and together they make a pretty good episode.

Space Ca-Dad:

 Off topic a moment here; rewatching the theme and it just dawned on me…maybe there’s a “fairy shortage” because no one’s enforcing the rules over fairies being revealed/discovered. I mean, if everyone Timmy knows knows about his fairies and yet he keeps them, then other kids must be doing that too you know. Just saying Jorgen, you caused this problem yourself man…and honestly, why not outsource the fairy jobs then to other magical creatures, since Fairy Idol proved any magical creature can be converted to a fairy godparent. It’d be a great way to bring Norm back if you stop and think about it, or a way to get the Pixies back in there too. I’m just saying, the “fairy shortage” story is pretty weak…still think Jorgen just did this to them because they’re good for each other…

 Ok back to the episode itself

 Yay Chloe is still a Squirrely Scout, good for continuity! And you love food puns? i love you more Chloe, you so are a Catman related heroine aren’t you ^^;

 Did he say “Mrs Lipshitz” or “Mrs Libwitz”? it was really hard to tell, so idk if that’s a Rugrats shout out or someone I have to add to my  Lebowitz family tree (cause slurred sound…and the witch/mental thing does suit the family…)

 Dad you had the rank of “flying squirrel” why is this confusing??

 Ok there are “Pickles” living on the street, I’m going with Lipshitz. So many Rurgrats shout outs.

 Whinny kid, Kid with issues (aren’t you Kevin?), and Stuart…so we are going with the latest (and suckier) Squirrel Scout troop line up. Kay.

 Chloe as a jr. astronaut though and knowing how to fly space ships ^^

 Heehee “Space Jam” how many more thinly veiled references can we have XD;;

 (maybe Squirrely Kevin is Kyler’s father…that’s doable…)

 Ah yes, Dad throwing the fairies out just when the kid/s need them. Yup, never seen that plot device used before nope. And how can rocket fuel destroy magical wands? They’re fairy magic, why are they so easy to ruin??

 How did you find a planetoid when you were heading towards the sun??? I don’t…right, why put logic into things, my bad

 The Glorg. Florgatron-5. Hm…*files that way for layer usage* Bakersfield???

 I loved all the aliens at the restaurant though.

 Over all, this episode was…meh. I didn’t dislike it, but it was a very pointless Dad episode. Seriously, you could’ve had them go to the Planet of the Dads and do pretty much the same thing, but at least keep that storyline going (since I think it’s the longest running one now). I’m unimpressed, but I’m not disappointed. So lets see if the B-story can save the episode as a whole.

Summer Bummer:

 “The looks of psychotic anticipation” lol, well we’re starting off with some good

 Also it’s summer vacation yet again. Mk…this makes it at least the 4th summer vacation Tim’s had, what with School’s Out, Shelf Life, and Microphony being the others I can easily site off the top of my head. So again, these children should be like 14-16 now

 It’s the return of Dad in short-shorts. Oh man, run and hide now.

 Chloe getting a summer internship/scientific program is very her. Must always be learn…wait did she say the corner of a basement?? O.o that’s concerning child…

 Oh hey that pink clad teacher is from s1 I think. Wasn’t she in Timvisible at the water cooler?? That is a very nice and wow throwback guys. Major points to you.

 Chloe is 10 and a half???? So she actually IS a year younger than Timmy, since he was already 10 when he had his birthday (and we ignore the previous like 5 birthdays he’s had >>) and they share a birthday…but wait, your birthday is in March…summer vacation starts in June/July, that isn’t 6 months later…ok so on the one hand, your math is all wrong, but on the other my headcanon that Chloe is a year younger seems to be proven fact. I don’t know what to do with this information!!

 Oh this is the sleep wishing episode I heard about! Wow took a while for the plot to show up…but you know, even though this has been used before, I feel like this is being used in a different context and for a different character, so I’m allowing the reuse of the plot idea. Let’s see how twisted up Chloe’s subconscious is…

 “Gender neutral Jesse” is sorta weird…I like the fact that Chloe did play with baby dolls though…

 Timmy you can’t unwish Chloe’s wish! We’ve been over this-we had a whole episode dedicated to it!! URG!! Did they just throw that out because it’s easier for them to just fix each other’s mistakes that way? I mean, if this was the only time, I could buy that since she didn’t *consciously* make this wish, it could be undone by Tim, but the other times they’ve pulled this she’s been in her full faculties. So uhg! You can’t even keep your own continuity you establish in the same season >> (but…you guys have been doing better than expected, so…it’s not *as* negative points as I’d usually give…or maybe it is but you’ve just racked up enough positive ones to be at the standard by now I guess)

 Hey Dr Rip Studwell, long time no see XD and…you made a manscaping joke…wow, I…wow

 And a poop joke…but you have a pirate ship…but still…

 “Took one to the crow’s nest” is that a crotch shot joke? Wow this episode is just…wow

 Omr the mini shoulder Chloes are adorable! I love valley girl!Chloe and german science!Chloe. Didn’t like the second poop joke in a minute, especially since Dad really *shouldn’t* have heard science!Chloe say that…

 She wished the doll big again…I think Chloe’s repressed feelings are about not wanting to grow up

 And look Da Rules FINALLY decide to kick…oh no, Chloe wished it to be unwishable...yeah, because that’s the only way to stop Tim from fixing it >> and yet at the same time, he did wish the monster to stay until he stopped lying about who set Chompy free, so…formula…

 “There’s free ice cream all over the street! It’s like delicious roadkill!” ok that is the best line ever

 Wait, you’re wishing yourself into Chloe’s mind?? Because that worked so well when you went into your own…and why does it remind me of Mabel’s dreamworld/mind? I expected less pink, more purple honestly. Preschool!Chloe is so adorable!! Totally called the plot though, not that it’s hard.

 Cosmo confirmed as queer, because even when he thought Wanda was “Weird Dude” he still had a crush on him. Wow, I am floored they did that, good for you

 And we end it by promoting cannibalism? Oh wait no; we scratch the 4th wall instead. Ahha. Yeah. You totally missed the opportunity to have “Kids just being Kids” playing somewhere-possibly remixed-because I feel the message suited Chloe’s mentality too right now.

 Over all, I’m glad it was Chloe centric but…I feel like this could’be been done in half the time maybe? They ignore their own continuity, but they do tackle real stuff in a minimal magical way. I guess like the A-story, I’m unimpressed but not disappointed. I feel like both of these should not have been paired together because as a whole the entire episode is lacking; they both needed a stronger story to counter balance them. It’s a good watch once through, but I doubt it’s an episode you’ll want to rewatch.

Dimmsdale’s Got Tallent:

 Ok…I feel like this plot has been used before…and not necessarily thinking Fairy Idol either, but I just can’t place which episode I’m thin king of…

 TOOTIE!!!! THEY DIDN’T SHIP YOU OFF TO BOARDING SCHOOL OR WHATEVER!! OMR!!! Sadly you were just a backgrounder cameo, but still…now I just need to find Francis then my main favs will have all appeared to be not dead (*spoiler: Francis does not appear anywhere*)

 More Bickles…huh…

 Mom’s stage name is “Madame Sasha”…is that a hint that her first name is Sasha?? Most times when you make up “magic names” they’re either your real name in between “the” and “magnificent” or they’re some super exotic/fake/fantastical sounding thing like how Dad was “Dadracadabra”

 And more about Chloe’s one-woman show. That’s so neat that this is something that they’re developing for her, instead of using as a toss away one shot gag.

 Kevin!! Dressed as a dummy for a comedy act lol. It’s an old and over used plot idea, but I’ll run with it. I like it. Cause Crocker now has 24 hour access to a child, he of course has to think of other ways to use it. “I’m telling my mom you made me do this” because that is Denzel’s sister so it is a legitimate threat…though you’d think Dolores would object to this too…why have we not had any interaction of Kevin with his grandmother yet??? I’d love to see Denzel get jealous over the attention his mother is giving Kevin that he never received

 Haha Dad stealing Chloe’s idea, and still breaking the gender norms, nice. Where did Bickles get the coconut bikini top and grass skirt though?

 Oh baaaaaad lesson to be teaching kids there guys. If the authority figure won’t give you want you want, you shouldn’t do them favors to try to bribe them into giving it to. Especially in the entertainment industry. That’s how bad situations happen….

 Um those remote control tap shoes shouldn’t work because they would be helping Tim to win a competition, which is against Da Rules…not that Da Rules seem to matter anymore…

 Ok Mom, you claimed to be a “Pet Psycho” yet you’re using only wild/non-pet animals. I think that’s probably the easiest way to point out that you’re doing this wrong

 “I love me some snake and mongoose” ok…lets go see if that’s a euphemism on google…hm, nope, just a drag racing movie. That’s nice…wasn’t Bickles a race car driver at some point??

 Doug Dimmadome returns! And “curious life partner”??? the Mayor and Chompy are a thing??? O.o???

 Good boy Kevin, stand up to Crocker ^^

 “That was a Dimma-dud” so simple and stupid, but probably the most fulfilling line thus far ^^;

 love Chloe’s gold gown

 ok I lied, “Dimma-dope” is now the most fulfilling line in this

 heehee Dudley Puppy and Crimson Chin balloons in the parade. So headcanoning that TUFF Puppy was a show on tv in FOPverse

 so this episode was….well just really pointless filler too. We got like minimal focus on any of our main characters. Have they forgotten how to write Timmy and Chloe?

 Together these two (this was paired with Knitt-witts)  were not a good match. Both were pointless filler with not a strong plot in either of them. Too many guest cameos, no character development. It was just barely enjoyable enough to not hate it, but just barely honestly. Weak episode all around.

Goldie Crocks and the three Fair Bears:

 Ok I’ve been looking forward to the return of the Fair Bears since the episode titles were released.

 Interesting to see the Squirrely Scout troop back again, still the same B-team line up including Chloe. Thought you already had that patch…but then again that could’ve been with the A-team troop lineup, so…the records were all destroyed when it was disbanded maybe?

 Thanks Tim, we all were asking that. But how does using Mom’s shampoo make your hair blonde? Luscious and even longer I could buy without complaint, but blonde??

 More over achieving Chloe lol (poor girl is gonna crash when she burns out). But wow, she fought King Neptuna…so why didn’t he remember her? Is Supergal now enemy to the merfolk??? Though that plays into the Merfolk vs Glamazons wouldn’t it…

 And now we turn into the clichéd camping storyline where Character A decides to go use non-wilderness to camp in luxury. But Tim, you used to like camping??? Also, still not seeing how the episode title plays into this plot yet…

 Cosmo has been right/made sense on more than one occasion though, why is it that surprising?

 Ok now we get the title…Crocker’s mother has a cabin in the woods? Buyable, sure. Crocker somehow brought the Fair Bears back into reality??? Uh…what now? Wait, they weren’t sent back to TVLand?? And Crocker knows all about their origin?? HOW does that not break Da Rules huh? Is it because he doesn’t know who wished them up, so it’s not against Da Rules?? Why wouldn’t they tell him that; wouldn’t that be a fair thing to do?? He’s in a blonde wig because they’re going to be Goldielocks at a theme park, yeah sure, ok I can buy that. But HOW did he get the bears in the first place???

 And Dad is blonde to be Goldielocks…wow…

 Chloe breaking the 4th wall a little there

 Gah even more middle names! Chloe how many do you even have????

 NO! YOU CAN’T UNDO THE OTHER’S WISHES! URGH!!! You established this rule right off the bat, yet you keep breaking it and they let you keep breaking it. Timmy wished for the camping stuff-Chloe should not be able to wish it away. Yes the plot is stalled, but really, what is the plot at this point??? If you’re only going to enforce the rules when it suits you, well, anarchy for all then please

 And you wished away the magic…yeah, that’s going to go super well

 “Mr Crocker’s unsightly twin sister” ok on the one hand, that works because of Kevin granted (even though she’s not a twin persay, but he has suddenly got a sister), but on the other…this is all saying that guys can’t have long hair and I don’t like that. I love guys with long hair. Between that comment on Crocker, and the comments earlier about Dad, why is long hair automatically girl now?

 Dolores dated Shaggy??? O.o i…I am very unnerved by that…wasn’t she already a full blown adult with a 10 year old child when Shaggy was a teenager roaming in the van with the Mystery Inc crew?? O.o

 Omr yes. Referencing the “original German version” as a darker one. Talking about basting and eating people. This turned dark super fast and I love that. why TrollLOL’s face is on the oven idk, but I’m rolling with it because I love this part.

 “I’ve already got 2 strikes from the school board” uh…yeah that’s the wrong side of dark I think…but it’s Crocker, it was probably the fork in Waxelplax’s fanny, and the flour incident or something fairly similar.

 Yes Tim, yell at Chloe that this is all her fault. We know it is, but pointing it out won’t help. But it totally is; you wished for no magic and you got into trouble-not surprising.

 HOW is it nearly midnight??? It was like, what, noon at the latest when this started?? You have not been out in the woods-in the daylight-for 12 hours-of daylight. Chloe hunny, you’re the smart one, why are you failing telling time??? I know its dark outside the house now, but it wasn’t in the scene before. Cosmo I think your clock is right. And how is “poof us out of here” bring you to a spot where it is, once again daylight; that seemed to suggest instant teleporting so you’re at the same time. Unless this next scene is a cut away to hours later BUT STILL! It should not be midnight.

 Oh Dad, yes, I’m sure no one cares about your troop anymore.

 “let’s send the Fair Bears back” uh you should have done that the first time and this whole mess would have been avoided. It’s like leaving the door to the comic book world open all over again.

 And yes, cause unnecessary harm to Crocker, why not. Not to mention all the innocent patrons at the theme park…

 Also why has no one mentioned Dimmsdale had a theme park before now?

 All in all, not a good episode. I was looking forward to the return of the Fair Bears, and it felt like they weren’t even in half of the episode. The rest was another boring camping storyline, which these two seem to do a lot of huh?

 Paired with Fancy Schmancy, as the production order says, I think the whole 30 min episode is completely weak and not great. This one was bad, the other was filler, so together they are just not meshing well at all.

[dahniwitchoflight]

Ages of the Wayfinder Trio

actually speaking of the wayfinder trio and the funkiness surrounding their ages

my thoughts for how old everyone will be once the story is older goes kinda like this

Aqua was in the realm of darkness, where Time flows differently, whereas she aged and experienced a chunk of time probably equivalent of a few months to maybe a year at most. That was completely seperate from the realm of light’s timeline passing like 10 years

so at most, Post KH3 Aqua is like, 1 year older than BBS Aqua

Terra though, has spent 10 years merged with Xehanort, we know that the original merger went from BBS Terranort, a young man roughly Terra’s age

to Xemnas and Asnem, both full grown men, meaning that the full person merger of Xemnas/Ansem (aka Older terranort) is also a full grown man

meaning for all intents and purposes, Post KH3 Terra should also be 10 years older than BBS Terra. (unless when they split something like MX being an evil old man instead of Post KH3 Terra/Xemnas/Ansems’s age equal is explained by the fact that when they split he got all the experience and Terra got all the youth but eh)

Ventus then is last as being in a somewhat suspended animation state in castle oblivion for his ten year period. We haven’t seen him in his post KH3 state as of yet, except for a single scene during the end of DDD, which looks the same and implies he didn’t age

but the thing is, if Ven’s suspended animation is the same as Sora’s was, Sora did age during his single year

and there’s also the fact that the KH series has done this before where if they show a single scene in one game meant to represent a different version of the character happening in another part of the timeline, theyll just use the model that they already have instead instead of making an entire new one just for a single unplayable cutscene

they did this when they first showed the scene of Ienzo, Lea and Isa losing their hearts to darkness (Destiny, KH2.5 Final Mix Secret Ending, shows most of the org pre-nobody, during the scene they became nobodies)

As of BBS, we know that during this time Zexion, Axel and Saix were very young and nearer the same age, we see young Ienzo’s model in that scene because they had used it for another scene

however originally they didnt have a young Lea or Isa model like in BBS, so in the scene where it shows them losing their hearts to darkness, they used the older Axel and Saix models, the ones already nobodies and wearing the black coats, supposedly at the moment where they didnt have those yet :p

SO. its stands to reason that, if they don’t have an older Ventus model, and don’t have enough justification to make one, because they only scene they need to show of it is a single secret ending one. Then for now, they will use the model of him that they have, and when they show it again once theyve had enough reason to make an older model of him, like say in a newer game where older him is actually a character again, they will simply show the scene again using the updated correct model like they did with Isa and Lea

(theyve done this also with Ventus himself in his own game, his original appearance is 4 years ago when Xehanort first drops him off in the land of departure after creating Vanitas, assuming Ventus is 14 when he’s playable in BBS, that makes him 11 in the scene where he’s beaten down and broken into Vanitas by MX. But since, no need to show his 11 year old self beyond a prologue cutscene, no need for another seperate model, but that also doesn’t mean he didn’t age from 11 to 14 :p and then obviously his 11 year old self would look different than his like, 25 year old self, but again, the models used ingame don’t show it all that well cuz they just dont make that many models for miniscule scenes) 

so it is VERY LIKELY, that considering that in no other cases or situations do we ever see someone stop aging for any reason

that Ventus likely did not stop aging during his time at castle oblivion as well 

Nobodies still age, people in weird circumstances (like Terranort) still age

even Aqua in the Realm of Darkness didn’t stop aging, its just that she was in a different timeline in a different realm with different rules about time, what happened temporally in the realm of Light during her time in RoD just didnt have anything to do with her

SO Likely, the wayfinder Trio once meeting up/becoming whole/awake again post KH3, assuming theyre ages in BBS being:

Terra = About 19. Nomura said Xemnas was about 30, and KH2 is 11 years after BBS ends. Aqua = About 19 (Cuz same age as Terra makes sense) Ventus = About 14 (Same age as Sora in KH1)

means that around end of KH2 they’re about

Terra: 30 (Xemnas)

Aqua: About 20 (RoD)

Ventus: About 25 (Castle Oblivion)

add another year ish for DDD/KH3 (for Terra/Ventus anyway)

and they’d all be 31, 20 and 26 respectively

heck, even if you make Terra and Aqua around 24 years old as of BBS to match their ages up better post KH3 (I mean, Terra/Aqua are called adults, and japenese adulthood is at age 20 not 18, and Nomura said “About 30″ not exactly 30, meaning Terra can’t be younger than 19, but could be a bit older as well, but since hes called adult, hes at least 20 as well)

so being 35 (Terra), 25(Aqua) and 25 (Ventus)

almost everyone is the same age that fits reasonably well within what canon that we know

so how can we think of to fix it so Terra rejoins the 25 age group?

well I’ve always liked to think a nice little rehash of the “a young man in the body of an old xehanort man because he fell to darkness, who hides from his friends because he doesnt want to be seen like this, but the girl in the group recognizes him and through the power of friendship/heart/love sees his younger self inside him and somehow becomes young again” scene would be a very nice callback

Xemnas/Ansem recombine, Old Terranort exists again, Terra regains control over the darkness/his heart, Riku Style, but Terra still looks old because connections to Darkness/Xehanort, feels ashamed of how he’s fallen/avoids friends, but helps from sidelines. Aqua catches hi, recognizes him, they have a heartfelt friendship moment and *BOOM* Young Terra Again, but about a year older cuz he did mature in that time

through the power of friendship is magic, the wayfinder trio are all 25 years old now

thats my headcanon for things and I’m sticking to it

[tinkdw]

After 12x19, do you think the season will end on a mutual love but separation kind of note for Destiel or do you think it'll be glossed over and bro-zoned like they usually do? I'm positive it'll be something other than "no homo" because Dabb wrote the finale and he is known for giving satisfying Destiel moments, but I'm kinda also afraid they will keep it low-key to the point of nonexistent because studios? Love, Eden 💕

2. So according to your chart, did we get our break up moment yet?

I’m going to answer these two together, and urfg I wish I had the patience to wait til I got home and do it justice but I really want to answer now so… here goes.

I was just thinking and noting down on another post about how I do believe it will be a “happy ending” or as much as it can be in SPN by series end, but that means there will probably be heartache and pain between now and then, because that’s how stories work.

I believe most likely by entire series end we will have TFW heading up a mol/hunter teacher training group, using mol tech and knowledge and hunter morality, probably free will factoring in MASSIVELY in that finale, Destiel, Saileen and the end of bro - codependency in a healthy positive way, whilst still being generally together, just less “on top of each other” and unhealthy.

Regarding Destiel this kind of then has to factor in backwards from the series finale if it is going to be endgame, which I believe it will be (well, I was like 95% sure, with 5% leeway for production reasons stomping on it, now a part of me is actually wondering if it’s 5% stomping still, but actually another 15% maybe Dabb changing SPN into this “better way” script between now and endgame and maybe even getting it earlier…. who knows at this point, it’ll be so much clearer in 12x22/23 where Dabb is leading us and what his aims are!).

I was headcanoning before 12x19 that we would get a CHOSEN separation in 12x19 i.e. It would be down to their own decisions, they’d probably have a big argument, then a true realisation and textualisation of feelings for Dean between 20-21, a ‘reconciliation’ ie they’re brought back together again by plot points in the finale and a FORCED separation in the finale, probably with one or the other making a relatively unambiguous show of their feelings.

Therefore this whole part of the story is the break up.

This is because I was thinking old school SPN - that they ‘just can’t have nice things’, that Destiel is so obvious now they cannot be in the same room as each other without a chaperone for more than 30 seconds without it being SUPER romantic (and boy did 12x19 prove that right!) and that the goal wasn’t to have Destiel before endgame so therefore they HAD to be separated.

Then as you know the part after this is the “winning him back” phase which makes a lot of sense too because Dean DIDNT reciprocate Cas’s “I love you”, he has been upset of course but basically towards Cas has been quite cold since 12x12 (see the 12x15 phone conversations) - until 12x19 of course but he is STILL hiding behind Sam in all his “we’s”, STILL hiding behind Cas is FAMILY and family - zoning him etc etc so he HAS to work on himself and have his realisation lightbulb moment (even if so far it seems he is currently having something of a sort, it’s still not strong enough given his words to Cas) and then work to win him back.

So really Dean NEEDS this realisation arc, aided massively by Mary I believe as the extension of Amara, who I meta’d about loads being the exposition of Dean’s feelings for Cas in season 11, bleeding into season 12 and boy do we see Dean’s facade coming down this season, it’s GLORIOUS, and Mary is a huge part of that.

So seeing that leaked confrontation between Dean and Mary? And the fact the episode is called “who we are” - and I think Mary will also be honest here about herself, I feel like this is exactly what we ARE going to get between 12x20-22….

This whole season has been showing Dean’s facade coming down and lo and behold his feelings for Cas seem much more obvious too, funny that!

At the same time the more we advance with season 12 the more I see this other side from Dabb, the “better way”, happier ending etc so I’m also open to this idea that perhaps this season finale won’t end in separation but a kind of “happy” interim ending with other aspects being the problem for next year.

BUT with all of what’s happened already validating my theory so perfectly I’m very interested to see what happens now in these interim episodes before the finale… as I’m more than open too to have been massively misdirected as Dabb does love a bit of that ;) overall whole series arc though, I mean, it seems clear to me that this is where it’s headed.

Short term though it SEEMS to be setting up for a separation at season end with season 13 set up similar to early season 7 and 9 (which would make sense with the current season 6 and 8 parallels) with Cas separated from them and Dean in a total mess, more obviously romantic and finally a brainwashing / crypt scene rehash but stronger and much more Destiel heavy. Or could this all be crammed in to the season 12 finale? Then they’d end this season together….Maybe…. that’s the “happier” option and only would work if Dabb is going to really go to town on this “better way” and totally new version of SPN moving forwards between now and series end.

I’m still tentatively confident in my first reading though. But hey idk I literally just love stories and love this show and make up theories, I’m not privy to any inside information!

But as to whether this is all just misdirection or if it may bleed into season 13 is interesting… there are just so many options because there are so many different storylines all converging and we don’t know Dabb’s short term goals even if I’m relatively sure of the long term ones.

Also, if this does happen the break up thing is going to be this whole arc from 12x12 - whenever the crypt scene / whatever happens in season 13 to get Cas back. The break up doesn’t mean just an argument or whatever, it’s the whole part of the story where they are separated and realise their feelings and have to work to get back together…so it can be very long especially in SPN where plot points that last 10 minutes in a movie can be dragged out over whole seasons!

Dabb loves mirrors and subversions and there have been so many misdirections I am not certain of anything short term.

Except the baby will NOT be inherently evil, Mary and Dean’s confrontation is going to be SO KEY to Dean’s future arc until endgame, Destiel is real and will be important moving forwards and Cas has to either regain his free will IF he is currently brainwashed or show textually that he has his own free will.

[philly-osopher]

Macaroniverse headcanons, Angelica edition

So after I posted the last installment of the Macaroniverse, @herowndeliverance​ asked if there would ever be an Angelica/ Maria Cosway side-story, and that’s where these headcanons were born from :)

Available here on Ao3, if you’d prefer that format. Warnings for sexual content.

Part I

Look, normally it’s not Angelica’s style to publicly eviscerate the arguments of people who disagree with her in class. At least, it hasn’t been since sophomore year, when a professor actually took her aside and said, look, you’re brilliant, everybody knows you’re brilliant, but just… please let the other students breathe. So she had, and she’d kept the peace for a long time. But there Angelica was, a senior in this upper div policy course, and a younger girl, one she had tutored last year, no less, sort of stumbled over her point, and this obnoxious know-it-all boy had pointed out her error and gone on this long speech about all the reasons why this was the better idea and Angelica. Flayed. Him. Alive.

So when he cornered her in the dining hall the next day, she wasn’t expecting him to be actually pretty charming. And sheepish, once she’d pointed out to him that he’d been an obnoxious dick. Certainly she wasn’t expecting him to beg for more correction. He'd reread the text and refined his point. Still wrong, but wrong in an actually interesting way. They'd stayed and argued until the cafeteria closed and then returned to her dorm room and ended the encounter with his face between her thighs.

Aaaaand he was a freshman. Whoops.

Still, he was an adult, and he was not only talented but willing to take instruction, and as far as the sex went he seemed to prefer taking care of himself, which… maybe had some hangups, maybe he was some rare subcategory of ace, who knew. Angelica wasn’t about to look a gift fuck in the mouth, so to speak. Except Herc started giving her dirty looks everywhere and Herc got along with everyone and Angelica wasn't really used to the idea of making a faux pas without knowing it, so she'd gotten all worked up about it and asked him, except he'd said he couldn't tell her and she should ask Alex and... and well...

Yeah, she really, really should have asked earlier, because at that point Alex accused her of pitying him (true), of not even being attracted to him (false!), of using him (... true, she supposes, although she hadn’t really known it, had she? Hadn’t he had some responsibility to communicate?). And then when she'd tried to work it out he'd picked up his wounded pride and stormed out.

She'd written him a letter. A careful but heartfelt apology, after half a bottle of wine, with Eliza consulting by phone from an ocean away, that had boiled down to, I want to make this work. Eliza kept Angelica from veering off into either wallowing self-flagellation (her first instinct) or point-by-point rehashing and complete denial of responsibility (her second).

He answered her long letter with his own long letter, and she’d cried reading it, how hurt this boy was, not so much by her as by the world, and they’d gotten back together and didn’t really talk about it all that much again. And they'd never were exclusive with one another, but were so mutually obsessed that the question didn't arise. Like, usually Angelica is so intense she has to spread it across multiple people, but not with Alex. She loved showing off all her ideas to him, arguing and blowing off steam until early in the morning, taking it straight into the bedroom. It was glorious, for a couple months.

She knows deep down that what they’ve got going—good friends, nice benefits—isn’t going to be enough for him. She finds herself rereading his letter, feeling his loneliness and all his sharp edges, feeling a deep compulsion to make it better, to make him a Project. She could do that, maybe, could refine his heart the same way she’s refining his mind with every argument he comes this much closer to winning. But that’s not her strong suit—that’s Eliza’s, maybe, but now that Angelica’s had Alex, that would just feel… weird. She’s not really the type to share, and nor is Eliza, for that matter.

Still, she might be able to grow her relationship with Alex, if she just puts in enough time, and effort, and worry, except—except she's going to law school in New York next year, damnit, she's going to need every advantage, and Alex is taking so much of her time and her worry already, this boy has already become a Project for her and that's not fair, it's not her job to be his fucking… refiner and it's not his fault he needs refining but she can't afford to be slowed down. She’s already a black woman in America, does she really want to stack the deck against herself further? Why can’t she just get back together with Church and have a slick, safe boyfriend who will look great on Christmas cards?

And maybe she's worried deep down, too, that if she spends all her time polishing this boy up one day he might outshine her. Alex is that brilliant. That's a mark of respect, she tells herself, that she's started to see him as a rival and not an interesting intellectual toy. That's a mark of the work that she's already put in, all those nights of long debates and subtle corrections and just-right follow-ups. This, she tells herself, as she breaks up with him, two months before the end of her senior year, is the mark of a job well-done.

She was ready for him to be sad, but she wasn’t ready for the heartbreak that flooded into his eyes the minute she told him. He has to turn away for a moment. She doesn’t follow him, doesn’t put a hand on his shoulder. Pretends she has no idea what’s happening. It’s better that way—she doesn’t want to hurt his pride, when she’s already hurt so much else.

“I thought—I mean, I knew… law school, but I thought we had… I thought we had another couple months, I didn’t—”

“I need to get used to being by myself,” Angelica says, simply. “Stand on my own. Independence is really important.” Those reasons, at least, he’ll understand. All the others she’ll keep for herself.

“Yeah,” Alex rasps. Angelica wants to take his hand, turn him around, give him a hug, but their relationship was never all that huggy, anyway, and anyway, he's not her project anymore. It's a relief, to absolve herself of responsibility for Alex's emotions. She walks away, texting Herc as she goes. Hey, if you don’t see Alex at dinner tonight you should grab him something, okay? Herc will figure out what happened from that alone.

After they break up Alex seems to bounce back pretty fast. The first time they do lunch it’s weird, the careful deference they have for each other, never letting fingers touch, like even that would send them flying back over the edge. But gradually they learn to be comfortable in each others’ company again. After she moves to New York they Skype every so often. Angelica still really enjoys talking to him. That spark is still there, ready to be fanned into a flame. But she leaves confident that he'll return to her circle soon enough, refined by life and his own hard work. The question is whether she's willing to wait that long—or whether she'll find someone else in the interim.

Part II

Angelica's law firm had been getting their portraits done by Rick Cosway ever since his dad died a few years back and he inherited the business. She'd just made partner—youngest ever by about ten years, first woman, first person of color, no big deal—and she was so, so ready to have that portrait looming imposingly over everyone walking in the door. Yeah, that's Angelica Schuyler. No, she's not here to take your lunch order, she's a motherfucking partner, now show some goddamn respect.

Rick Cosway's studio is unexpectedly hip, in this strange shared makerspace warehouse in Brooklyn. His stodgy traditional half-done portraits look really out of place compared to... well... everything else in there. Angelica steps over a lot of extension cords in her Louboutins to get to the chair for her sitting.

Halfway through her sitting the guy gets up to take a fucking phone call. Well, that's unacceptable. Angelica had just wanted to send him a photograph anyway, but he'd insisted on her coming down to sit for the portrait and all the old white dudes at the firm had said it was a rite of passage and she'd wanted the full partner experience but whatever, this is bullshit. She gets up.

Literally as she's in the middle of walking imperiously out in her heels she sees something that makes her gasp. Makes her come to a full stop like she’s run into a fucking wall, and just stare. It's a painting, probably twelve feet high, of a woman, and she's smirking straight down at Angelica, arms crossed over her chest. She looks like a sailor, covered in old tattoos—but her body is also painted in the tattoo style, and the tattoos continue straight off her body, and as Angelica looks it's almost like she's reading a story of all the shit this Nasty Woman has overcome to get where she is and Angelica's just fucking. Blown away. This titanic figure is on her level, this is someone who gets her—

At the foot of the painting is a Latina woman very much covered in tattoos and Angelica realizes this is a self-portrait and feels like she's been struck by a fucking lightning bolt.

Just then Rick Cosway comes trotting up with an apologetic smile. "Sorry," he says, "important client. You know how it is." The woman with the tats is listening, Angelica can tell.

"First, I am an important client. Second, I don't need your services anymore," she says coldly. "I'm commissioning her."

Something in the unhurried way the woman turns around spooks Angelica. "... if she'll have me," she finishes, suddenly self-conscious. What if she's too corporate, too alpha-bitch, too uncool for this clearly very cool very creative very strong-willed woman?

"I dunno, Ricky, should I let her buy me a drink? Treat me real nice?" the woman asks.

Later—at the bar, in fact—Angelica learns that the two of them are married for tax and immigration purposes. She also learns that Maria works half as a painter, mostly portraits, and half as a tattoo artist, and has been profiled on 60 Minutes and gotten a goddamn genius grant and a shitton of awards.

Maria's not at all modest about any of these things, which is a relief because that way Angelica doesn't have to figure out a way to be subtle about working the fact that she was the first black female president of the Harvard Law Review into the conversation.

And when Maria raises an eyebrow and asks "wasn't that Obama's job once? Are you planning on following in his footsteps?" Angelica doesn't do her usual cute laugh and change the subject routine. She doesn't turn down any of the intensity in her voice when she says, "Absolutely."